Rafael Benitez's six seasons at Anfield have been marked by one consistent trend: when his team's fortunes appear bleakest, the Reds have the ability to summon their finest efforts. On Sunday the concept of "Rafaball" was once more on display.
The last time LFC lost four straight, Margaret Thatcher was enjoying high tea with Ronald Reagan. Click to continue reading...

AC Milan are one of the most storied sides in Europe, but they could take a lesson in class from mid-table French side Sochaux. The tragic car accident involving rising US star Charlie Davies and the awful injury to defender Oguchi Onyewu during last week's World Cup qualifier revealed the true colors of the two players' domestic sides. Click to continue reading...

With ManU dropping points today against Sunderland, the table sets up nicely for the winner (if there is one) of the Liverpool Chelsea clash Sunday at Stamford Bridge. As part of my blogging for the Liverpool FC Supporters Club of Chicago, I examine the Liverpool-Chelsea rivalry, from an extremely pro-Liverpool perspective, of course. Click to continue reading...

I've joined my fellow members of the Liverpool Supporter's Club of Chicago in getting our blog up and running. In addition to cheering on the Reds at The Globe, many of us get kitted up on Sundays and play in a co-ed rec league. The summer season ended in familiar style for LFC with a second-place finish. Click to continue reading...

Earlier today Sports Illustrated soccer writer Grant Wahl mentioned on Twitter that he plans to watch every Barcelona and Real Madrid match this season. That's not a bad idea because following the two Spanish giants should give you the entire story of the upcoming La Liga season.
Depending on your perspective, the campaign will be a predictable two-team runaway or a compelling battle between two of the game's marquee squads. Click to continue reading...

Bolton take on Liverpool tomorrow morning. I've always thought that Bolton manager Gary Megson looked like someone familiar, but couldn't quite figure out who. While watching "The Office" the other night, I finally spotted Megson's long lost twin- Dunder Mifflin HR rep Toby Flenderson, played by actor Paul Lieberstein. Click to continue reading...

College football fans love to whine about the BCS rankings, especially the obscure computer rankings that spit out unpredictable results. But the co-efficients that UEFA uses to determine the seeds for the Champions League draw, being held today, might be even goofier.
UEFA uses past European performances to weigh the teams, then splits the 32 squads into four pots of eight teams each. Click to continue reading...

In 2003 Italian club football reached its peak when AC Milan and Juventus met in the Champions League Final in Manchester. Six years later, that same Final was held in Rome, but Italian sides were nowhere to be found. All of them had left the competition following the Round of 16. The 2008-09 campaign was a step back for Serie A. Click to continue reading...

If there's one undeniable strength of the USA's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, it's our stadiums. You want big facilities? We got 'em. Lots of 'em. There are enough venues in this country to host three World Cups at the same time. With the US bid due next May, today the committee narrowed the list of potential venues down to 32 stadiums in 27 markets. Click to continue reading...

There's no accurate comparison in the U.S. to the European system of promotion and relegation, but consider this theoretical scenario. The University of Chicago, a founding member of the Big Ten, revives its long dormant college football program, works its way up through Division III and Division II, and eventually returns to Division I-A status. Click to continue reading...

Fans of ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons, aka "The Sports Guy," may remember his short-lived dalliance with the English Premier League three years ago. In the lengthy but entertaining style that is his trademark, Simmons analyzed the pros and cons of supporting all 20 EPL teams, counting them down in reverse order. Click to continue reading...

As the bid process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups continues, the US efforts have been unveiled on a sharp yet simple Web site that highlights the effort to return the World Cup to the States for the first time since 1994.
As you'll see on the site, the folks behind the bid are rolling out all the top social media tools like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr to bring the campaign to life. Click to continue reading...

I was getting ready to draft my Premier League preview when I stumbled across the news of ESPN's agreement to air games in the U.S. this season. Talk about a great way to start the season. Now that I've calmed a little from that excitement, it's time to talk Premier League!
If there is a silver lining to the global economic crisis, it might be this: With wild spending down, we are looking at potentially the most competitive season in the history of the Premier League. Click to continue reading...

Like finding out on Christmas Eve that your parents did buy you that awesome present you wanted, ESPN has announced on the eve of the English Premier League season that EPL games will indeed be shown in the U.S. EPL Talk has the late-breaking story of tomorrow's opening day broadcast of Chelsea and Hull City on the deuce. Click to continue reading...

Since November I've been playing soccer on Sundays with fellow members of the Liverpool FC Supporters Club of Chicago in a league run by Chicago's Windy City Wanderers. I hadn't played organized soccer in 18 years, but it's been great fun putting on the Jamie Carragher jersey each week and playing for the Reds. Click to continue reading...