By John Nicholson

With so many genuinely important issues in football to address, it amazes me that the F.A. and the media in general devote so much time focusing on incidents like the 'brawl' at the end of the League Cup Final. From the sheer amount of coverage it has received you would have thought that someone had exploded a small nuclear device, or at the very least had sacrificed a couple of virgins on a burning pyre.

Let’s get it clear. That was no 'mass brawl.' It was just schoolyard-style pushing and shoving that footballers do to try and imply they could be tough if they really wanted but which in reality hurts no one.

This is known as 'handbags' in Britain. I don’t know why. I think it derives from the phrase "it was handbags at 30 paces" which in itself is an obtuse and bizarre phrase to describe a 'fight' where all concerned slap at each other without really doing any damage. However, it has always seemed a bit inappropriate because where I come from, women can wield handbags like a lethal weapon capable of rendering an onrushing bull unconscious with one swing.

Whatever way you want to express it, the cup final incident wasn't a fight and it simply didn't deserve the attention lavished on it let alone having it decried in some media circles as 'horrific.' A few over-paid nancy boys shoving each other does not constitute a fight in my book.

It should also be said that most fans love a bit of a ruck kicking off on the pitch, just as they love a full bloodied tackle. Its ok to admit it. It doesn't make you a bad person. Too much of the mainstream media pretends that we're all shocked by this sort of thing. 'Hide your eyes mother, its disgusting.'

But most fans are not disgusted by it, nor are they offended, quite the reverse. It is largely seen as splendid entertainment and extremely amusing.

There is far too much moralizing about on-pitch conflict. It's not the end of the world if a couple of players want to whack each other. It's all in the heat of battle, tempers run high as do emotions, its' to be expected. I love it. A few goods right hooks liven up any match.

There are always people who tell us earnestly that kids will copy their heroes and start fighting on the pitch themselves. The role model argument is always trotted out on these occasions. Well maybe its true kids do copy things they see on TV, but is what someone like Emmanuel Eboue is doing on a football pitch really more influential on your kids than you are? Surely he shouldn't be.

The F.A, always respond to these situations with fines and bans and various flatulent admonishments after studying the tapes of the blood fest but its all a waste of time. It was handled properly by the officials on the day. That's an end of it.

Sometimes it seems as though the fuss around these incidents are just dazzle ships, designed to take everyone's eyes away from the really important issues of the game. Instead of wasting their time watching slow-motion replays of Lampard and Fabregas pushing each other like two girls in the playground, they would be better employed working out why so many fans are becoming so disillusioned at the highest levels with the sport that they are in part employed to protect and promote. Now that would be worth studying, but it would require some hard work and self analysis; both things the F.A. are scared of.

John Nicholson writes each week for Football 365 and EPL Talk. You can listen to John's wonderful stories on episode 30 and 45 of the EPL Talk Podcast, as well as purchase his excellent Footy Rocks book and order one of his unique rock'n roll T-shirts.

Labels: Arsenal, carling cup final, Chelsea, F.A., john nicholson

The American influence in the Premiership is continuing to escalate. Just today, for example, there are articles about the possible takeover of Manchester City by American investors (rumored to be AEG), and a piece about Robbie Fowler having talks with New England Revolution's coach Steve Nicol.

Then, of course, there are the Americans who regularly turn out for their English teams. Out of the 20 teams in the league, nine of them feature Americans. That's an incredible 45%.

So where do we go from here?

For American players wishing to play in England, a lot of it depends on the current crop of talent in the Premiership and what impression they make. Looking at this past weekend's action, just as an example, Oneywu gave away the free kick in the Newcastle against Wigan match (which led to the only goal of the match). Bocanegra made a mistake in the Fulham against Man United match (which led to Ryan Giggs scoring the equalizer), and DeMerit fouled Andrew Johnson in the box (which led to a penalty for Everton against Watford). American defenders can't afford to make these costly mistakes week in and week out.

What attracts English managers to U.S. players is the raw talent and affordable price tag placed on their head. For American players, there's the desire to play in the top league in the world and the increased salaries offered in the U.S. compared to the paltry sum provided by Major League Soccer.

Expect more English sides to travel to America this summer for pre-season matches. Aston Villa and Chelsea have already announced plans. Arsenal will most probably visit due to their ties with the Colorado Rapids.

Having English clubs visit the States for friendlies is a win-win-win for everyone, well almost. The fans love it because they can take advantage of the weak dollar and go on holiday to the States and watch their team play. The clubs love it because it's an opportunity to expand their brand in the U.S., sell more merchandise and create more publicity. The players enjoy it because they get to practice at better facilities and get a nice suntan while playing in California instead of a friendly against Bognor Regis.

And, of course, the Americans love it. I must admit that the majority of American soccer fans have a much bigger appetite for English football than even most English fans. The fans in England have become disconnected and feeling disenfranchised from their teams. How many Brits do you think would wake up on 4:45am ET on a Saturday morning to watch Arsenal nil, Blackburn nil?

It's difficult right now to determine which English clubs will be coming to America for pre-season friendlies. Liverpool and Manchester United are both doing tours of the Far East, so they may not have time to fit in some matches. If AEG is able to acquire Manchester City, the chances of the team from the eastern side of the city playing a tour in America will significantly increase. And then there's always clubs like Fulham, Everton and Reading who would be welcomed with open arms in the States.

The only negatives I see about Premiership clubs coming to America on tour is (1) the intolerable heat, for both players and fans and (2) the toll that the travel places on players -- which can have detrimental effects on the fitness of players as we saw with Chelsea after their tour of America last summer and their slow start to the season (losing in the Charity Shield, etc).

If you're an American and you're reading this, you may want to start saving your money now so you can afford to see many of the Premiership clubs flying over to America this summer.

Labels: Arsenal, Chelsea, english premier league, Liverpool, manchester united, premiership

Starting with the 2007/2008 season, the Premier League will unveil a new style of numbering and lettering for the jerseys of Premiership clubs.

The new Premier League lettering will appear more modern in design and will be easier to read. The Premiership jerseys will also feature numbers that are in the same design as well as a new Premier League badge design.

This is the first change to the design of the lettering/numbering templates in more than a decade.

We haven't seen what the new design looks like yet, but it's possible that it may resemble the font used in the new Premier League logo (see above).

New readers: If this is the first time you're visiting EPL Talk, welcome aboard. Be sure to visit the EPL Talk web site, where we have links to a Premiership interview podcast, EPL magazine, message boards and much. Plus, be sure to bookmark this blog so you can read the latest news about the new lettering for the Premiership shirts, plus the new designs of the shirts from the 20 Premiership clubs this summer.

Labels: english premier league, epl, premier league shirt lettering, premiership

If you'd like to have a chance to win a World Soccer Shop T-shirt and give us your valuable comments on the EPL Talk Email Newsletter, please go ahead and take the 2 minute survey today.

Your feedback is vital to help EPL Talk grow, and we appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to give us your feedback.

If you haven't subscribed to the EPL Talk Email Newsletter yet, be sure to do so today. Each Friday we provide you with the TV guide listings for the matches involving the Premiership sides in England and European competitions. Plus, we feature the latest headlines, a preview of the next podcast, news about the weekend fixtures and much more including chances to win prizes, etc.

Subscribe today here.

Labels: EPL Talk Email Newsletter

The latest episode of the EPL Talk Podcast has been published featuring an exclusive interview with former Premiership referee Jeff Winter.

Labels: EPL Talk Podcast, jeff winter

Curious who has the most expensive tickets to watch Premiership football? Some of the answers may surprise you. EPL Talk researched all 20 teams and found that Arsenal is, by far, the most expensive, Liverpool is very affordable in contrast, while Wigan is downright cheap.

Here's the comparison of Premiership tickets. Note that all prices are in British pounds, and that most clubs price matches based on different categories. The highest price category is typically for when the home team plays Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.



Converting these prices to American dollars, the most expensive seat at an Arsenal category A match is $184. Arsenal deems the following opposition as category A: Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United, Spurs and West Ham.

Out of all of the above teams, the prices for Wigan, Watford, Middlesbrough and Charlton are not completely indicative of prices throughout the season. For example, Wigan's prices mentioned above are the heavily discounted rate that the fans now pay. I couldn't find the prices for their regular season tickets. Watford, Charlton and Middlesbrough web sites didn't include ticket prices for the season. Instead, above I included ticket prices for upcoming matches involving those home sides.

I should also note that all ticket prices shown above are for adult non-members.

Tickets to watch Liverpool hover around the $64 mark, which is very competitive compared to other clubs. You have to wonder, though, if American owners Gillett Jr. and Hicks will raise prices for next season. Aston Villa prices, too, are pretty competitive. Will Randy Lerner increase ticket prices next season?

Please share your thoughts on the above chart showing EPL ticket prices per club. I'm interested to your get opinion regarding which clubs are ripping fans off, or if the prices are fair for the action on the pitch.

Labels: english premier league, epl, match tickets, premiership, ticket prices

According to the North American version of Setanta Sports's web site, the Irish broadcaster will begin offering Premier League matches via broadband starting with the 2007/2008 season.

This is wonderful news for EPL fans. No word yet on how many matches will be available, but it's definitely a positive step.

To learn more about Setanta Broadband, read issue number two of the EPL Talk Magazine where we feature a review of the service.

Thanks to eplnfl for the tip.

Labels: english premier league, Setanta, setanta broadband

The topic of match tickets has been in the news this week. First, Bolton announced that they're reducing prices for next season. Now Manchester United fans have decided to protest at Craven Cottage for tomorrow's match and will be encouraged not to buy any food, beverages or merchandise in order to send a message to Fulham.

Fulham is charging Man United away supporters 45GBP ($88), which is pretty outrageous. Manchester City away fans, meanwhile, were charged 25GBP ($48). Reason being is that matches at Fulham, and most Premiership grounds, are priced on a scale (i.e. categories). The bigger matches cost more to see, and it costs less to see "lesser" opposition.

Labels: english premier league, fulham, manchester united, match tickets, ticket prices

Aston Villa will be visiting the U.S. this summer to play a series of preseason friendlies, according to the New York Villans Aston Villa Supporters Club.

Labels: aston villa

If you're searching for a way to experience Sunday's League Cup Final between Chelsea vs Arsenal online, join the EPL Talk Chat hosted by bcjohn.

We'll have Arsenal, Chelsea and neutral fans from around the world chatting in real-time about the first cup final of the season. We'll also be able to tip you off regarding Chelsea vs Arsenal radio coverage and how to listen live (depending on what part of the world you live in).

The match kicks off on Sunday at 10am ET/3pm GMT. Setanta Sports will begin coverage of the final one hour earlier at 9am ET/2pm GMT.

You can access the EPL Talk Chat from the EPL Talk homepage (near the center of the page).

Labels: Arsenal, carling cup final, Chelsea, league cup final

While this has been a tremendous week for watching European football, EPL Talk readers have also been busy playing fantasy football and prediction leagues. Here are the most updated top 5 positions in the respective charts:

Fantasy Champions League:

1. Foolish FC (Mark Aegerter), 371
2. Gratefullawyer (Wayne Novick), 317
3. Sidekicks (Michael Trubey), 308
4. Bloody Yanks (Jeremy Lay), 306
5. FC Epikoinos (Eric Anderson), 305

Fantasy Premier League:

1. Rockfish United (David Griffith), 1492
2. FC Walker (Steve Thielman), 1488
3. FC Bubd (Jeff Mensch), 1469
4. Mesiniaga FC (Sakaya Mary), 1449
5. Foolish FC (Mark Aegerter), 1438

Predictions League:

1. The Gaffer, 470
2. Bkossow, 345
3. Fsquid, 320
4. Jbcook2007, 315
5. TokyoToffeeman, 285

It's still not late to join any of the above leagues. To learn more, look for the links on this page near the top left corner under "Interact @ EPL Talk."

Labels: Champions League, fantasy league, prediction league

If American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. know anything about soccer, they'll be grinning from ear to ear tonight after Liverpool's historic 2-1 victory against Barcelona at the Nou Camp.



Liverpool was fortunate to play a woeful Barcelona side with Valdes and Marquez making crucial mistakes that led to the goals. That said, Liverpool was deserving of the win with a gritty display and Benitez, once again, getting his tactics correct in the Champions League. If Benitez can overcome Rijkaard in the second leg, can Liverpool go all the way to Athens for the final?

Note: It was a rare treat to hear Martin Tyler and Andy Gray commentating the match that was broadcasted on Setanta Sports. ESPN Classic, meanwhile, had Adrian Healey and Seamus Malin commentating; another quality set of commentators.

Labels: barcelona, Champions League, Liverpool

Think back for a second and consider the last time that one day had so many brilliant matches as today. For me, it has to be last summer's World Cup.

Today, of course, we have the extremely intriguing match-ups between Barcelona and Liverpool, Porto and Chelsea, Watford against Wigan and, to a lesser extent, Everton versus Spurs. The Everton match could surprise me -- after all, there's a lot to play for including the struggle for UEFA Cup positions -- but I have a feeling the match will pale in comparison to the others on feast today. Without a doubt, today is the biggest football day of the year.

What's the one thing that Barca v Liverpool, Porto v Chelsea and Watford v Wigan have in common? None of the matches will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel. Instead, it's a menu of Setanta Sports and ESPN today.

While Fox Soccer Channel had the opportunity to shine last weekend with the FA Cup, they've been hurt this season by poor matches -- at times -- and not much luck in terms of FA Cup draws that pitted non-league Davids against Premiership Goliaths. And even with the Premiership coverage, Fox has been left to pick up what Setanta doesn't want, so the action on the pitch from Fox hasn't been the best -- except for the coveted Sunday 11am ET timeslot where Fox has shone.

It'll be a big weekend for Setanta this weekend with the League Cup final in store. Fox Soccer Channel's most interesting matchup will be Saturday morning's relegation battle between West Ham and Charlton.

At the end of the day, we shouldn't look a gift horse in its mouth. The combination of ESPN, Setanta Sports, GolTV AND Fox Soccer Channel allows us fans to experience soccer like we have never experienced in the past. All of the above mentioned networks have their faults, but together we're living in a dreamworld -- in a good way.

Labels: Champions League, english premier league, ESPN, fox soccer channel, goltv, premiership, Setanta

I had the rare fortune of watching Sky Sports's coverage of the Champions League on Tuesday -- not one of the matches they showed, but instead the coverage from the Sky Sports studio with presenter Rob McCaffrey on Gillette Soccer Special.

Labels: Champions League, sky sports, soccer saturday, soccer special

If you want to win a copy of the Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 video game for the PS2, listen to this week's EPL Talk Podcast interview with Derek Rae to find out how.

New features of the game from Konami include:

Labels: konami, Pro Evolution Soccer 2007

Who would have imagined that the Lille versus Manchester United first leg tie tonight would have been so controversial? To me, it reminded me of the drama of 80s football, and it certainly sets up a remarkable return leg at Old Trafford.

For those of you who didn't get a chance to see what happened, the action on the pitch is best summed by up the excellent footage from ITV who broadcasted the match in England. During this clip, you also get to see the expert analysis by Robbie Earle and Andy Townsend, two co-commentators we regularly hear on Premiership matches each weekend. Plus you have the post-match interview from Alex Ferguson.

Labels: Champions League, lille, manchester united, Stade Félix Bollaert, uefa

Today begins a fabulous week of football as the Champions League returns after its three month winter break, followed by UEFA Cup matches on Thursday, a return to the Premiership on Saturday and the League Cup final on Sunday.

And the best part about the next several days is that it's completely unpredictable.

Labels: Champions League

In all the years of following football, I don't think I've once come across someone who didn't like the work of Derek Rae, the Scottish football commentator for ESPN. Well if you're as big a fan as I am, you'll definitely want to listen to the Derek Rae interview on the latest episode of the EPL Talk Podcast.

During the 30-minute interview, Rae discusses the most intriguing Champions League matches of the week.

But, we also delve deeper into the topic of football and discuss with Rae his memories of his first football match he ever attended, what it was like commentating on an England against Scotland match from Wembley, the most memorable match he worked on, how much research he does before matches, and much more.

Enjoy the interview!

Labels: derek rae, ESPN

By John Nicholson

The Champions League returns this week. Thank God. It seems to have been away for months. With 5 British clubs involved, at last we'll see some proper, competitive football games featuring the Premiership big four and Celtic.

The top sides in the domestic leagues are so far ahead in terms of resources and players that both the English and Scottish leagues are only actually competitive when the top sides play a weakened side. If they all played their strongest sides, they'd win or draw almost every game. It's bloody boring. But the Champions League matches them with more equal opposition and everyone plays their best side.

Liverpool will be sorely tested in Barcelona; Porto will be no push over for Chelsea. Lille shouldn't be too tough a task for Man United, Arsenal face a tricky tie in Eindhoven but it is at Celtic Park where the home side take on AC Milan that will be the tie of the round. The atmosphere will be the best anywhere in Europe. Loud, passionate and fierce, they will roar on the hoops to overcome the Italian giants. How much more exciting and brilliant than playing, say, Falkirk?

I get the feeling that it's only the Champions League that really matters to any of the big four in the Premiership. In fact, when you listen to the likes of Arsene Wenger you'd think that domestic football is all just too taxing for his players. He doesn't want FA Cup replays, he doesn't want to play his first team in the league cup and there are too many games to play in Premiership apparantly. Perhaps they just don't want to play football at all. At times it's like it's all a terrible chore to them. You'd think his players were made out of bone china as opposed to being athletes the way he goes on about how tired they get and how many injuries they have.

And he's not alone in this. Mourinho and Benitez have both complained about similar issues over the past two years and Ferguson all but invented the notion of playing a reserve team in League Cup games or matches against lower placed sides. Celtic are 22 points ahead in the SPL, it just not a proper competition any more. Is it any wonder some fans are growing disillusioned?

So the time has surely come to let the big four go and Celtic too. It's time to release them from the burden of domestic football that they are so frequently moaning about. A European Super League's time has come. The clubs themselves are making the case clear.

They don't have to really fully compete in 75% of the games in the Premiership in order to get a result because they’re so far ahead. So what's the point of them even being there? If only they'd get lost, we can have a proper league competition again. We can have cup competitions without managers moaning about playing too much football if there's a replay. It would reduce negative football because all clubs would know that they had a chance of winning and would play more attacking football to do so.

At the moment half the sides in the league know that they will get 0 or at best 1 point out of a possible 6 when they play the big four. They have to write those off at the start of the season. Without them being in the league imagine how liberating it would be for everyone else. It would be fantastic and it would rejuvenate the domestic game.

We'd all still get to see the big clubs plying their trade in Europe. We'd enjoy the more even competition. There simply isn't any down side to it. Only tradition and conservatism is against the idea but if the game is to remain a healthy, competitive spectacle, then it's time has come.

John Nicholson writes each week for Football 365 and EPL Talk. You can listen to John's wonderful stories on episode 30 and 45 of the EPL Talk Podcast, as well as purchase his excellent Footy Rocks book and order one of his unique rock'n roll T-shirts.

Labels: Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, european super league, Liverpool, manchester united

Fox Soccer Channel is causing a bit of a stink down under, but it's not the sports network's fault. It seems that a web site named channelsurfing.net is playing an illegal stream of Fox Soccer Channel to viewers around the world, which has particularly upset executives in Australia.

The Age newspaper from Melbourne, Australia, is reporting that Australian soccer officials and pay TV executives failed to stop the pirate internet tranmission from showing Fox Soccer Channel's coverage of the A-League Final between Melbourne and Adelaide. According to The Age, Fox Sports had the rights to the match. But instead of paying to watch it on Fox Digital in Australia, many soccer fans down under watched the illegal stream.

Melbourne Victory defeated Adelaide United 6-0 in the grand final.

Labels: a-league, adelaide united, fox soccer channel, melbourne victory

Soccer Shout, the daily podcast on English and Scottish football, has launched a redesigned version of their web site.

The new-and-improved site will feature blog posts (previously at cleverfootball.com) as well as links to all of the latest episodes of the acclaimed podcast.

Check it out when you get a chance.

Labels: Soccer Shout

For you soccer die-hards who have been waking up at all hours of a Saturday or Sunday morning to get your Premiership fix, relief is on its way. Beginning March 11, the U.S. will move to Daylight Savings Time several weeks before usual, while the European Union won't move their clocks one ahead until March 25.

That means that football matches between March 11 and March 25 will be shown live one hour later than they usually are. Instead of people on the west coast of the U.S. getting up at 4:45am to watch the Saturday match, they'll be able to get up at 5:45am PT instead.

Some of the matches effected by the time change include:

Man United v Bolton, March 17, now 8:30am instead of 7:30am ET
Chelsea v Sheffield United, March 17, now 11am instead of 10am ET
And many others.

For the most up-to-date schedule of matches involving Premiership sides on U.S. television for now through April, visit the Premiership Community and look for the "US TV Schedule for Premiership Clubs" thread in the message boards.

PS - Thanks to reader David Griffiths for the tip about the Daylight Savings Time!

Labels: premiership

Chelsea is paving the way forward for Premiership clubs after they announced a deal with YouTube to offer videos online for their fans. This is a first for a Premier League club.

This is a perfect example of how clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United are miles ahead of the Premier League in terms of truly understanding the power of the Internet and taking advantage - in a good way - of the technology available.

Instead of Chelsea sending "goons" out to threaten bloggers to remove links to YouTube videos, as the Premier League did with NetResult, the Blues have decided to take a proactive step and create their own section at YouTube that allows them to post approved content (no live action highlights due to rights issues) and allow Chelsea fans to upload their own videos.

Some of the features at http://www.youtube.com/chelseafc include behind-the-scenes videos from Chelsea TV, links to favorite Chelsea video clips, comments from YouTube visitors, and more.

Excellent work from Chelsea, and let's hope this is a sign of things to come from fellow Premiership clubs.

Labels: Chelsea, english premier league, NetResult, premier league, premiership, youtube

The Premier League has announced that they're redesigning their premierleague.com web site. Incredibly, the current design of the site hasn't changed since December, 2004. In fact, the design from September, 2002 looks remarkably similar.

Labels: english premier league, premier league, premier league web site, premierleague.com, premiership

It was a marathon, but I really enjoyed watching last night's FA Cup Fourth Round replay match on Fox Soccer Channel between Bolton against Arsenal.

Arsenal made it all the more entertaining by missing two penalties and Adebayor squandering an open goal. But Bolton had their chances too hitting the post in the first half and extra time, as well as Anelka volleying the ball over the top of the crossbar in the dying minutes.

I was very impressed by Arsenal's defending in the match both in defense and midfield. The Gunners provided Bolton with few opportunities around the box and quickly closed the Trotters down. All Bolton could do was continue to float crosses into the box hoping that someone could head them down for a striker to latch on to.

For a side who is supposed to despise playing a physical game, Arsenal battled well. Up front, though, was where the team had its troubles with chance after chance being squandered and Bolton wondering how they were still in the match. While Adebayor is a threat up front alongside Julio Baptista, both players need more playing time in order to flourish in England.

After a slow start to the season, the Gunners are firing on all cylinders. They're in the League Cup final against Chelsea, as well as the fifth round of the FA Cup and have a two-legged tie against PSV Eindhoven, which they should win, in the Champions League.

Arsenal's reward is a fifth round tie at home against Blackburn, which will be shown this Saturday (February 17, 2007) at 7:30am ET on Fox Soccer Channel in the U.S.

Labels: Arsenal, bolton, FA Cup

It's never too early to start looking at the new kits that the Premiership clubs will be unveiling this summer for the 20072008 Premier League season.

There's already been a lot of activity, but here's what we know so far:

Arsenal:
Will be keeping their same home shirt, but will be coming out with a new away shirt from Nike.

Aston Villa:
Randy Lerner's club has signed an agreement with Nike to provide new Aston Villa 2007/2008 kits. Goodbye Hummel.

Blackburn:
Rovers will be releasing a new home and away shirt presumably from Lonsdale, but not confirmed.

Bolton:
Reebok is synonymous with Bolton both in the name of their stadium and on their shirts. But, as many of you know, Adidas bought Reebok more than a year ago.

The Reebok shirts are supposed to transition away, but we'll have to see whether Bolton moves to Adidas shirts or not this summer.

Chelsea:
The west London side will be unveiling new away and third shirts this summer. There's a possibility that the design of them may resemble the Adidas template design (pictured above). Adidas typically sticks to one template for all the clubs that wear Adidas, so it's possible that Chelsea will release a design similar to this (but with a different color palette obviously).

Liverpool:
The Reds will unveil a new home and away shirt this summer, which may also resemble the Adidas template design pictured above.

Manchester City:
The rumors are that Manchester City will be switching from Reebook to Le Coq Sportif jerseys this summer, although their current home shirt is supposed to be used through the 2007/2008 season.

Manchester United:
Both 2007/2008 Manchester United kits for home and away will change this summer to a new design from Nike.

Newcastle United:
Newcastle is scheduled to unveil new home and away shirts this summer from Adidas.

Tottenham Hotspur:
The 2007/2008 Spurs jersey, for home and away, will be unveiled this summer.

West Ham United:
After a long relationship with Reebok, West Ham United will be wearing new home and away shirts this summer from Umbro. A preview of new shirts can be seen here.

To order the latest shirts from your favorite Premiership club, visit the EPL Talk store today. We have home, away and third jerseys for almost all of the 20 teams.

Release dates for the Premiership kits are available here.

Labels: 2007-2008 kits, 2007-2008 season, adidas, english premier league, football kits

During the past few weeks, America is suddenly in vogue in regards to soccer. The latest development is that representatives from UEFA attended this year's Super Bowl in Miami to see how they can take some of the American ideas and make them work for the UEFA Champions League final scheduled in Athens this May.

According to The Guardian newspaper, UEFA executives were particularly impressed by how the NFL handle the entertainment and spectator experience.

In the artlcle, UEFA's marketing and media rights director Philippe Le Floc'h also discusses how much money the Champions League tournament brings in from marketing and their philosophy about how they give advertisers a better product at the end of the day.

In the past few weeks, Arsenal formed a partnership with MLS team Colorado Rapids, Liverpool was acquired by two American owners, and ESPN announced that Chelsea will be playing a friendly against LA Galaxy in Beckham's debut.

At the end of the day, it's all about money. UEFA representatives are looking to see how the NFL does business at the Super Bowl so they can make the Champions League Final more of a spectacle and find new ways to bring in revenue.

Now that Chelsea recently announced their plans for China, I wonder if their attention will turn back to America where they're considering the launch of a US-only Chelsea web site to sell merchandise (to hear more about this, listen to the EPL Talk Podcast where we broke the news back in November).

Labels: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, NFL, Super Bowl, uefa

New UEFA President Michel Platini has the answer for how to reduce the number of incorrect decisions made by referees: Add two referees in a match, so there are five officials on the pitch at one time.

Platini's idea is to place a referee's assistant in each of the penalty areas to assist with offside calls or penalty calls. The two linesmen would remain in their current position, while the referee would traverse the field as he does now.

Five referees in a match? I know what you're thinking, but rather than immediately dismissing the idea, it has some potential.

Take, for instance, Arsenal's match this past Sunday against Wigan in the Premier League. There were two very controversial moments in the match that had huge ramifications for the final score. There was Arsenal's first goal, which should have been called offside. And there was Flamini's foul on Emile Heskey, which should have resulted in a penalty for Wigan and a red card for the Arsenal Frenchman.

Now if there had been assistant referee's located in the penalty boxes, they definitely would have had a better perspective on whether Flamini fouled Heskey or not. And they would have been in a position to help the referee make a decision about Arsenal's first goal and whether it was offside or not.

While I believe Platini's idea should be tested in an upcoming tournament, such as u-17's or something similar, I do have a concern about Platini's suggestion: What would happen if there is disagreement between the assistant referee's on the pitch?

What if Platini's concept was in place for the Arsenal against Wigan match? For Arsenal's first goal, the linesman kept his flag down. But what would have happened if the assistant referee in the box saw it as an offside call? A debate would ensue between the linesman, assistant referee and referee. If the referee didn't see the incident clearly, he would then have to make a decision based on the arguments of both of the two individuals.

If an incorrect decision was then made by the ref, and the goal stood, then that raises more controversy and you'd have critics and analysts complaining that even five referees on a pitch couldn't get the call correct.

I'm not saying Platini's idea won't work, but it needs careful consideration first.

Editor's Note: Former Premiership referee Jeff Winter will be a guest on a future EPL Talk Podcast. If you have any questions you'd like to ask Jeff, please post them here or visit the message boards at the Premiership Community.

Labels: Arsenal, phil dowd, platini, referee, uefa, Wigan Athletic

In the continuing series that explores my recent trip to England to watch top flight football, we take a look at my visit to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium:

It's not often that the outside of ground looks just as attractive as the inside, but Arsenal's Emirates Stadium (or Ashburton Grove as many prefer to call it) is magnificent. It's the type of stadium, inside and out, that's flawless both to the eye and to how well it was designed.

I visited the Emirates for the first time in late November for Arsenal's crucial match against Hamburg in the Champions League. Since that time, Hamburg's form has plummeted, but the side at that time were playing very decent football.

Walking through the streets of Islington and toward the Emirates, it seemed like any old match. But when my cousin and I went to our seats, we could instantly tell that the atmosphere was very different and much more vocal. Part of the reason was because we were sitting immediately above the away supporters nestled into the corner of the ground. In the five matches I went to in England, the Hamburg supporters were the loudest of them all (home or away).

The stadium itself is perfection. Each seat is large and padded and there isn't a bad seat in the ground. The sightlines are also impressive with no obstructed view of the pitch. If an architect was summoned to design a perfect stadium with a capacity of 60,000, I don't think it would look much different than the Emirates.

Once the Champions League theme song played and the match prepared to kick off, the atmosphere increased even more. The choreographed Hamburg fans were a sight to see, all singing and swaying in unison and throwing insults at the neighboring Arsenal fans.

The match, meanwhile, was very similar to Arsenal's form of late. They let in an early goal, but then proceeded to come back and win the match late.

While what happened on the pitch is history, inside the stadium it was an uplifting experience. If you get a chance to visit London and there's a match at the Emirates, don't hesitate to go.

Labels: Arsenal, Emirates Stadium

Just as many of you are, I'm also an avid listener of football podcasts. I don't know what I'd do without them as I now listen to podcasts 100% of the time and never seem to switch on the radio anymore.

Two football podcasts of note that I want to tell you about are "Soccer Shout" and "Divers and Cheats."

In today's episode of Soccer Shout, I'm the guest co-host as Phil and I discuss yesterday's FA Cup matches (I bid the romance of the cup farewell), the latest transfer talk surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and whether I feel the lad will go, the controversy over the Paul Jewell and Phil Dowd affair, and many more topics including the psychological warfare between Sam Allardyce and Arsene Wenger.

Labels: Divers and Cheats, podcasts, Soccer Shout

It's with great pleasure to announce that the next guest of the EPL Talk Podcast will be the legendary football commentator Derek Rae from ESPN.

Derek has been the lead commentator for Champions League matches for several years, and is -- without a doubt -- one of the most professional and listenable commentators in football right now. He began his career in Scotland, but now lives and works in Massachusetts.

Rae also has a weekly column at ESPNsoccernet.

If you have any questions you'd like me to ask Derek, please visit the message boards at the Premiership Community and reply to the "EPL Talk Podcast Guests" thread.

If you grew up like me where collecting football programmes was a fabric of your life, you'll be interested to know that Arsenal now offers a free version of their programme as a downloadable PDF.

Labels: Arsenal, football programmes

To many, the race for the Premiership title seems all but over unless Manchester United comes undone between now and the end of the season. While the chance of that happening seems very doubtful, we have to consider what effect the Champions League will have on not only United, but Chelsea and also-rans Arsenal and Liverpool.

The Champions League returns next Tuesday and Wednesday where Chelsea plays Porto, Lille takes on Manchester United, PSV battles Arsenal and a little team named Barcelona plays Liverpool.

Personally I don't feel that Manchester United has the strength or depth in their squad to manage the Premiership and the Champions League titles. I can see them winning either one of them (and a token FA Cup trophy), but not both. That's quite some praise for United, who have looked nowhere near the form of lifting the Champions League trophy in years.

If the Red Devils do overcome Lille, who are currently third in Lique Une, their form in the Premiership could be threatened depending on who their play in the next round, and whether they encounter injuries along the way.

Labels: Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, Liverpool, manchester united

The likelihood of Liverpool playing any pre-season friendlies in North America lessened today with Canada's National Post newspaper reporting that Liverpool will be embarking on a tour of the Far East to play several friendlies this summer.

It's been a couple of years since Liverpool's last tour of North America. However this summer, the tour will likely begin in Japan before presumably moving into China and Thailand (where Liverpool is particularly huge).

Read more about the story here.

Labels: Liverpool

ESPNsoccernet is reporting that David Beckham will make his LA Galaxy debut on July 21st against Chelsea, presumably at The Home Depot in southern California.

In March of 2006, Chelsea announced an agreement with Galaxy owners AEG (Anshutz Entertainment Group) where the two teams (and other AEG clubs Houston, Chicago and DC) would partner.

Labels: Chelsea, david beckham, LA Galaxy, MLS

Without any fanfare, the English Premier League has completely revised their logo.

Labels: english premier league, premier league, premiership

By The Scout

On January 12, 2007, a new era in American professional soccer was launched with the announcement that David Beckham had signed on to join the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. That the deal could be worth as much as $250 million US over 5 years grabbed headlines worldwide and shone the spotlight directly on a league that had survived for over a decade of virtual anonymity.

The announced deal brought to mind the defunct North American Soccer League, which also sought to draw crowds by going for big names such as Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff. The NASL had some heady times, with the Cosmos regularly selling out Giants Stadium but ended up folding after an ill-conceived expansion failed and the league failed to grow any American-based talent, relying instead on expensive foreign players. Only time will tell if Beckham's arrival becomes a similar beacon of hope to MLS. There is no doubt that so far he has caused a media frenzy and an increase in season ticket sales.

It was with these events in mind that I read David Wangerin's "Soccer in a Football World", which is published by UK-based When Saturday Comes book division. WSC is more famous for their magazine, which began life as a fanzine and has evolved into an important voice in football media. Wangerin, who was born in Chicago and grew up in Wisconsin, but immigrated to the UK in 1987, has taken on the daunting task of writing a comprehensive history of soccer in the United States. You might have heard Wangerin talk about his book during his interview on Episode 34 of the EPL Talk Podcast. If not check the EPL Talk Podcast Archives for a fascinating interview conducted by The Gaffer.

His book covers soccer from its early common roots with what has become American football (or "gridiron" as it is referred to in the book) through its myriad of attempts at creating a sustainable professional league. American soccer history is interesting and littered with very strange club names like Todd's Shipyards of Brooklyn and New York FC of the Bronx and the game enjoyed what could be considered its "golden era" during the 1920s. Negative attitudes toward soccer were not nearly as ingrained in sports fans minds as they would later become but the fact that soccer was largely seen as a sport for the "immigrant American" hurt its chances of drawing a large mainstream audience during the post-war years.

Despite the dramatic peaks and valleys of the game over the first part of the 20th century, the book really grabbed my interest when it covered events I had either witnessed or been aware of as they occurred. Chronicling the rise and inevitable crash of the NASL, the emergence of the US national team as a real player on the world stage and the founding of Major League Soccer, the later chapters were a walk down memory lane for me. NASL, as we learn, was not immune from bizarrely named clubs like the Minnesota Kicks or the San Diego Jaws. However, the arrival of world-class talents like Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff and Eusebio captured the imagination of the North American fans. As a Canadian, I took particular pleasure in recalling Toronto's NASL entry winning the unfortunately named SoccerBowl back in 1976.

The book's narrative arc is slightly fractured at times but the slight jumps back and forth in time have a minimal impact. Taken as a whole, the book was well researched and quite enjoyable to read. I'd recommend the power brokers in MLS grab a copy and read what can best be viewed as a cautionary tale of failed franchises, incompetent administrators and blindly idealist visionaries. I would also recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of the beautiful game.

Note from The Gaffer: An autographed copy of the book is available for readers in the United States for $20 plus S&H. For more details, visit author David Wangerin's web site.

Labels: american soccer history, david wangerin, soccer history, soccer in a football world, u.s. soccer history, when saturday comes

I had the pleasure this weekend of watching Gillette's Soccer Saturday from Sky Sports for my very first time.

Labels: david bobin, fox soccer channel, Setanta, sky sports, soccer saturday

Several months ago, I highlighted a new show that GolTV was adding to its programming entitled "Fans United." And even though I've been watching the episodes since it began, I only now got a chance to write about it.

Bottom line: If you haven't watched it yet and you have GolTV, set your Tivo player to record it now!

Labels: fans united, goltv, soccer show

Oliver Tse from SoccerTV.com is reporting that starting with the 2007-2008 EPL season, the Monday night matches (usually at 3pm ET) will air on Setanta Sports instead of Fox Soccer Channel in the U.S.

Presuming that the rest of the weekend schedule remains the same, that means that Fox Soccer Channel will keep the Saturday matches at 10am ET, Noon ET and 2:15pm ET, and the Sunday match at 11am ET, while Setanta will carry the Saturday matches at 7:45am ET, 10am ET (two, one on Setanta Xtra), Sunday at 8:30am ET and now Monday at 3pm ET.

In comparison with last season, there have been far fewer matches played on Monday's this season. However, this could be another argument for soccer fans to push them over the edge and subscribe to Setanta on DirecTV or ITVN.

Labels: DirecTV, fox soccer channel, ITVN, Setanta

The news for Premiership soccer fans living in America just keeps on getting better and better. This afternoon, at 3pm ET, the Colorado Rapids will be launching a press conference to announce the new name of their team: Arsenal Colorado. a new logo and new kit for the Colorado Rapids team (sigh).

Yep, that's right. Arsenal Colorado, not Colorado Arsenal. The announcement will go into detail about how both Arsenal Colorado and Arsenal FC will be able to work together for the betterment of both clubs. For Arsenal, this will be a perfect opportunity to expand their brand into America to catch up with Chelsea and Manchester United who have already established a foothold in the country due to previous deals with sports clubs and pre-season tours.

For Arsenal Colorado, this will be an opportunity to take advantage of Arsenal's training facilities in England, play some friendlies against English opposition this summer and presumably to give their youngsters the opportunity to train with Arsenal's elite youth system in England.

For soccer fans in America, there'll be a greater likelihood of seeing Arsenal play in friendlies especially in the Colorado area.

Now that Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool are owned by Americans, this definitely increases the likelihood that Kroenke may in the future attempt to acquire Arsenal FC. Read the article from The Independent for more coverage.

The question is: Will this be a trend that will happen in Major League Soccer where other MLS teams follow suit and make similar deals with Premiership sides?

Breaking news: In a surprising turn of events, Colorado Rapids didn't announce their expected new name: Arsenal Colorado. They announced a sharing of best practices with Arsenal FC, but not a name change. Arsenal will host Colorado in March for a trip.

Presumably the name change may still happen in the near future. According to Arsenal executive Keith Edelman, he hopes that Arsenal "will be there" for the opening of the new Rapids stadium (presumably to play a friendly).

The announcement was quite an anti-climax. The new team colors and logo now resemble Arsenal, but the name remains the same (at least for now).

Labels: Arsenal, Arsenal Colorado, Colorado Arsenal, Colorado Rapids, MLS, Stan Kroenke

The 2006-2007 season isn't even close to being over yet, but I'm already getting a lot of people asking when the fixtures will be announced for the 2007-2008 Premier League season.

The fixture list is typically announced in late June. For example, the fixture list for the 2006-2007 season was announced on June 22, 2006.

Labels: 2007-2008 season, fixture list, fixtures

Georgie Bingham, the former Sky Sports presenter and guest co-host on World Soccer Daily last summer, is moving to ESPN.

Labels: ESPN, Georgie Bingham, Gordon McQueen, Hayley McQueen, sky sports

I had two fascinating interviews during the past 12 hours with Peter Lupson, author of the new book entitled "Thank God For Football" -- and Andy Sloan, author of a book named "23 Sweet FA's." Both are incredible stories in their own way, and both interviews will appear on Sunday's episode of the EPL Talk Podcast.

Labels: 23 Sweet FA's, Andy Sloan, Hillsborough, Internet, Peter Lupson, Thank God For Football

Now that Liverpool FC has accepted the takeover offer from American businessmen George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks, is it a time of celebration or concern for Reds fans?

Labels: gabriele marcotti, george gillett jr., Liverpool, NFL, premiership, the game, The Times, tom hicks

Over 100 members of Parliament in the UK have signed a motion to urge the British government to re-examine the case for the introduction of safe standing areas at football grounds across Britain.

Labels: anfield, david cameron, safe standing, werder bremen

Umbro unveiled England's new home kit today in preparation for their match against Spain on Wednesday (3pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel). Overall, the new jersey looks pretty decent.

Umbro's design isn't a departure from their previous jersey. Instead there are subtle differences. The most notable of which is a blue stripe near the shoulder.

My opinion? It looks attractive, but it resembles a British olympic team more than an England football team.

You can order the new England shirt today from KitBag.com

Labels: England, football shirts, Umbro

By John Nicholson

Is Steve McClaren a two-faced hypocrite? Yes, says ex-players Massimo Maccarone and Danny Mills, no says, well, nobody except McClaren.

Both sides are obviously biased, but there is an air of truth about these criticisms simply because they confirm so many fans long held beliefs, that McClaren is an essentially weak man. When he was Boro manager he was always at his worst when the side was losing and playing crap, which to be fair was a lot of the time.

He clearly didn't enjoy criticism, well who does, but you could see that it irked him that anyone was critical of the sides he put out, despite the fact it was self evident that they were playing badly. He regularly put out poorly organized and under-motivated sides and he also never used relatively substantial funds available to him very well.

He was always quick with a cheesy smile and the positive vibes when things were going well, and I certainly always felt that he wallowed too deeply in the successes and hid from the failures too much. This is a quintessential sign of a basically insecure and weak manager.

There was never any sign at Middlesbrough that he was good under pressure, quite the reverse, and its worth remembering that the great 4-3 recoveries in Europe were at least as much to do with the senior players taking control in the dressing room at half time. In fact, there has long been a suggestion that McClaren's advice was ignored and dismissed by the players because it was his tactics that had led them to being behind in the first place.

That might be a bit harsh but it certainly illustrates the lack of respect and motivational ability that is inherent to McClaren's character.

Maccarone's accusation was that McClaren made false promises to him; that he was two-faced. Well most players who are leaving a club after five years of failure will probably feel a bit resentful and he was an absolute stinker of a player - apart from the last minute goals in Europe of course - and should have been shipped out at least 2 years ago - it is a sign of McClaren's weakness again that he wasn't.

But it was Danny Mill's comments at the weekend on 5Live that he had sympathy for the Italian and had found McClaren to be like that too, that I thought was more significant. Mills top flight career is over and he wasn't at Boro long but he is an articulate critic and he did play under McClaren and Sven in Japorea in 2002 so he has seen him at work and has no obvious axe to grind at this stage of his career, so it's hard to think that he'd say that he'd found McClaren would say one thing to your face which his actions would then contradict, is anything other than the truth. Mills also said he was quick with the warm words which again, were contradicted by his actions. You don't need to be a psychologist to see that this is a bloke who doesn't like confrontation and would rather lie to a player than tell him bad news.

None of this bodes well for England. You could argue the way he treated Beckham was consistent with his inability to give a player bad news. His insistence that the door was still open for DB was clearly a lie and if he'd been a more honest man he'd just have said so.

His over reliance on spin doctors and media management also show a man who is at the very least, insecure about how he is perceived. But ironically this just compounds the problem because it makes him appear evasive and weak.

At a time when England needs a revolution of attitude and of playing staff, the last thing we need is a conservative coward in charge who will flinch from tough decisions, who will alienate players with poor man-management skills and dubious tactical prowess.

I said late last year that I fully expect England to struggle badly to qualify for Euro 2008 and it won't surprise me if we fail to qualify. The upcoming friendly with Spain is a chance for McClaren to show us he's got balls and is prepared to think outside of the failed default parameters. If he doesn't break up the Gerrard/Lampard midfield by dropping one or both of them, it will tell us all we need to know about the rest of his tenure.

However, above all this, his appointment it reflects disastrously on the cretins at the FA who gave him the job in the first place. A political decision made out of expediency can never come to any good. If history proves me wrong I shall be delighted. But it won't. Sadly.

John Nicholson writes each week for Football 365 and EPL Talk. You can listen to John's wonderful stories on episode 30 and 45 of the EPL Talk Podcast, as well as purchase his excellent Footy Rocks book and order one of his unique rock'n roll T-shirts.

Labels: danny mills, john nicholson, massimo maccarone, middlesbrough, steve mcclaren

Manchester United is playing together so well as a team right now that they appear unstoppable. If they keep on playing like this, the FA Cup and Champions League trophies must surely be within their grasp.

Labels: man united, manchester united, Patrice Evra, Vidic

EPL Talk recently completed its fiftieth episode, so I thought it'd be interesting to reveal the most popular episodes measured by the number of downloads:

01. 2006 Holiday Special: Graham Bell, Ronaldo, Phil McThomas and John Nicholson
02. Steven Cohen
03. Shane O'Rourke
04. Phil McThomas
05. Arsenal Stadium & The Beautiful Game Podcast
06. Goodison Park & Johann Smith
07. Kevin McCarra
08. Henry Winter
09. Alan Mullery
10. Man United v Chelsea
11. Steve Banyard
12. Dermot McQuarrie
13. Joseph Scotti
14. Marcus Hahnemann & Russ Schouweiler
15. Gabriele Marcotti
16. Brian Halliday
17. Patrick Barclay
18. Gary Richards
19. Ray Hudson
20. A Game Of Two Halves
21. Nick Geber
22. Jeff Rusnak
23. Christian Miles
24. Jamie Trecker
25. Phil Ball & Howard Nurse
26. John Nicholson
27. Ben Shields
28. Richard Beresh
29. Allen Hopkins
30. Simon Inglis
31. Adrian Sherling
32. Arsenal America & Emirates Stadium
33. Paul Oakenfold
34. Jeremy St. Louis
35. David Wangerin & Dave Rutter
36. Kevin Toms
37. Graham Bell
38. Nick Webster
39. Seamus Malin
40. Bobby McMahon
41. The Treble
42. Paul Crowder
43. Phil Schoen
44. Max Bretos
45. Ronnie Whelan
46. White Hart Lane & Emirates Stadium
47. Ewood Park & Anfield
48. Peter Kenyon & Chelsea FC
49. Sean Wheelock
50. Fulham v Reading

Labels: EPL Talk Podcast

This past weekend, EPL Talk debuted a new feature to its Premiership Community site: a RSS Reader for football fans.

The RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Reader allows you to pick and choose your favorite sites, blogs and podcasts from the Internet and display them on one easy-to-read page instead of visiting each site separately. We've even put a short video together to show you how easy it is. Visit the Premiership Community at http://epltalk.communityserver.com today.

In other news, EPL Talk added a how-to-video to the EPL Talk Podcast page, which shows you how to listen to a podcast via your browser and how to subscribe via iTunes. The latest episode of the EPL Talk Podcast, meanwhile, was released just a few hours ago featuring an interview with Setanta's Paul Dempsey and also an interview with Konami about the Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 video game.

Last, but not least, I was interviewed on Saturday on the Inside Soccer radio show. Listen to the interview here (under the 'In The Media' section), and visit the Inside Soccer web site for lots of other interviews. Topics discussed include the differences between Sky Sports and BBC, the likelihood of Colchester flourishing in the Premiership, and much more.

Labels: EPL Talk Podcast, Inside Soccer, Paul Dempsey, Premiership Community, Pro Evolution Soccer 2007

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mark Adolph about a book he recently wrote about a topic that's near and dear to my heart -- and many football fans around the world... Subbuteo.

For those who don't know, Subbuteo was THE game growing up. Played on a green cloth mat, each of the two players had eleven small minature figures that they could flick around the pitch and try to score a goal as in the regular game of football. Of course, there were rules that specific to Subbuteo, but the game was simple to learn and -- before the creation of football computer or video games -- very, very addictive.

Regarding the history of Subbuteo, most casual players are unaware of the exciting life that inventor Peter Adolph lived and how his idea blossomed into a huge industry -- so much so that Subbuteo became one of the largest employers in the Tunbridge Wells, Kent area.

Labels: Mark Adolph, Peter Adolph, Subbuteo

This Sunday's clash between Spurs and Manchester United at White Hart Lane will be a close one, I believe. The level of crowd noise at White Hart Lane this season has been tremendous and it really is a twelfth man on the pitch for Spurs.

Crowd noise apart, Spurs has a good chance of scoring against United with Robbie Keane showing his form against Southend last week, Dimitar Berbatov ready to pounce, Jermain Defoe in the trenches and Mido, despite being linked with Manchester City, suspended.

Add to that Jermaine Jenas in midfield finally getting closer to hitting his stride and, very importantly, the ineffective and temper-fueled Edgar Davids being shipped back to Netherlands. On paper, Spurs has a quality side with players such as Malbranque, Robinson, Chimbonda, Huddlestone, Ghaly, and Zokora. But on the field, of course, they still quite haven't played as well consistently match after match that Spurs fans and I believe they can.

Haunting Spurs will be the fact that the team hasn't defeated Man United in the Premiership since 2001.

For Manchester United, they really need to focus on playing attacking football rather than playing a 4-5-1, which worked against them at the Emirates recently. Sir Alex Ferguson is really spoilt for choices up front now with Larsson, Saha and Solskjaer all fit. Plus Rooney available to play slightly behind the strikers (case in point was Rooney's brilliant one-two with Larsson that led to the Swede's goal).

This promises to be a very entertaining match to watch indeed.

In the U.S., the match will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel, 11am ET, Sunday, February 4, 2007.

Labels: man united, manchester united, spurs

You have to admit that there's quite an American invasion happening in the Premiership right now. Oguchi Onyewu joins Newcastle United. Liverpool may be taken over by an American company, and of course there's players like Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Jay Demerit, Brian McBride, Brad Friedel, Demarcus Beasley, Marcus Hahnemann, Tim Howard and many many playing regularly in the EPL each week. Oh yeah, and don't forget about Randy Lerner at Aston Villa and the Glazers at Manchester United.

Yesterday in England, meanwhile, there was so much football on offer. Chelsea looks like they've returned to their winning formula by playing a very attractive style of football against a hard-working Blackburn side.

Arsene Wenger must be sitting on cloud nine knowing that his team of youngsters are in the Carling Cup Final and he doesn't have to worry about risking injuries to his first team squad.

Speaking of injuries, Chelsea's defensive woes continues with Ashley Cole being out for the rest of the season. Why on earth Chelsea got rid of Robert Huth and didn't sign any defenders in the January transfer window, I have no idea.

Speaking of the transfer window, what an anti-climax that was!

Charlton got a vital point against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. Newcastle continue their slow but steady climb up the ladder with a 3-1 home win against Aston Villa (Gooch didn't play however). Manchester United turned on the charm offensive and convincingly won 4-0 (although the first two goals were Watford's fault).

It's promising to be a great weekend of football that's approaching kicking off with the Merseyside derby.

Labels: Oguchi Onyewu

In the United Kingdom, the newspaper industry is extremely competitive. There are more than 11 national daily newspapers compared with just two in the US (USA Today and Christian Science Monitor).

While the competition in print is fierce, the UK newspapers are also waging war online with their respective web sites having made significant improvements over the past few years. Now the battle has moved to the podosphere where publishers are trying to win the hearts and minds (and ears) of their readers, which brings us to today's topic: The competitive matchup between The Guardian's Football Weekly Podcast and The Game Podcast from The Times.

Football Weekly by The Guardian debuted on August 29, 2006 after the success of The World Cup Show Podcast that provided a daily round-up of news, hilarity and observations from The Guardian crew of James Richardson, Barry Glendenning, Sean Ingle, Kevin McCarra, Paul Doyle, Sid Lowe and others. The debut episode of The World Cup Show from May 11, 2006, can be heard here.

The Game Podcast from The Times, meanwhile, launched on September 18, 2006 after Gabriele Marcotti and Guillem Balague brought the idea to The Times (as was revealed in this past Sunday's EPL Talk Podcast). Hosted by Danny Kelly (former editor of NME and founder of Football365), he's regularly joined by Marcotti, Balague, Bill Edgar, and recently Alyson Rudd as well as a different weekly guest.

When I checked the popularity of the football podcasts on iTunes one week ago, The Guardian's Football Weekly was number one. But personally, I've found that the quality of the show has decreased during the past several weeks, while The Game Podcast has significantly improved (especially by dropping the sound effects feature, which was incredibly inane).

Don't get me wrong. Both shows are quality. Football Weekly provides listeners with a journey through the top European leagues which is extremely informative. The Game Podcast focuses more on the Premiership but has been focusing more on the European leagues as of late. But the biggest difference between the two shows is content. The Game Podcast is more of a debate about topical issues in football, while Football Weekly serves as more of a football news show, keeping you up-to-date and sharing views about certain players or matches.

The Game Podcast is as its best when Marcotti and Balague are on-air debating. The two of them rarely agree on topics, but are both very articulate and knowledgeable about the game. Balague, especially, enjoys revealing stories from the inner circles of football particularly about bust-ups behind-the-scenes (for example, Thierry Henry and Arsene Wenger). Unfortunately, Balague has been absent from the show during the past few weeks presumably because he's been so busy working in Spain.

Football Weekly, unfortunately, has become stale of late. I think part of the reason is because the show isn't the same when Barry Glendenning isn't as involved as he should be. His off-the-cuff comments and features on interesting angles of the sport ("Sun-der-land's recent home movie, for example) are hilarious. James Richardson, despite being eloquent, gets a bit old after a while with his clever puns. The rest of the cast are very engaging, but the whole show seems to be in need of a refresh. The production quality hasn't been the greatest lately. The mashup jingles for each segment have become trite and aren't funny anymore. Overall, Football Weekly has become too predictable.

What's needed more than anything is for Barry Glendenning to have his own show. The man is a comic genius and - what is often overlooked - has a very good football mind. A no-holds-barred show from Glendenning would be an incredible podcast. But is The Guardian brave enough to put Glendenning in charge?

At the end of the day, both The Guardian and The Times provide quality shows on a weekly basis that enhance the game of football. If you haven't had a chance to listen to either one, subscribe today via their respective web sites or iTunes.

Labels: barry glendenning, football weekly, gabriele marcotti, guillem balaque, james richardson, podcasts, the game

What's your favorite day of the week?

If you ask most Brits, they'd say Saturday. If you ask Americans, I believe they'd answer Sunday. This may seem unimportant, but in the world of soccer -- and especially the English Premier League -- it means everything.

Having grown up in the UK, my favorite day of the week was always (and still is) Saturday. I've talked about this before in the EPL Talk Magazine, but Saturday morning was sublime for me. Playing football in the park with my mates. Rushing home to watch Football Focus on the BBC. Playing a few games of Subbuteo. And then watching BBC's Grandstand, and holding our breath as the classified football results were announced. The trimphant day was capped off later by watching Match of The Day (after 10pm, if my memory serves me correctly), again on the BBC, where we would see the first TV images of the games played earlier in the day.

For Americans, the experience is much different -- which I find extremely interesting. Sunday is the day of NFL football, while Saturday is reduced to "lesser sports" such as college football and the once-glorious institution (similar to how Match of the Day is revered) called "ABC's Wide World of Sports" when you'd see highlights from a variety of B-rated sports.

What's interesting is that Americans, by far, are much more religious than Brits. Not being American, I would surmise that religion and sports are able to survive on Sunday because NFL football on TV wouldn't begin until early afternoon and by that point, church activities would be over.

When I started the EPL Talk web site in November 2005, I was under the impression that even though Sunday was "sport day" for Americans, that Saturdays would be busier simply because of the majority of Premiership matches happening on that day.

What I've found out is that Sunday is, by far, more popular in terms of traffic to the web site. The popularity of Sunday for Americans was reinforced by a recent interview with a Fox Soccer Channel executive where he said the highest ratings the network routinely got were for the Sunday match (11am ET).

Growing up in the UK during the 70s and early 80s, Sunday's for me were all about a traditional roast beef lunch with Yorkshire pudding, and it was usually a family day where we'd take a trip somewhere or visit family. The only intrusion of sport on that day would have been the morning newspapers, which were chock full of transfer speculation and articles about the big matches of the previous day.

Of course, that's changed since the early-to-mid 80s, and now with the Premiership, two or more matches are typically played on most Sundays. So football is now much more pervasive in the UK on the day of rest.

For Premiership teams, it's important to realize the importance in differences between Sundays and Saturdays especially when clubs visit the country to play friendly matches. A match on a Sunday, I believe, would have an increased attendance over a match played on a Saturday.

Let us know what your thoughts or memories are regarding Saturdays or Sundays, and -- if you're American -- how you've adapted to Saturdays being a bigger sports day (thanks to the Premiership) than what you were typically used to. Click on the 'Comments' link below.

Labels: fox soccer channel, premiership, sky sports