New "I'm on Setanta Sports" Episode

I know it seems like all I do lately is post these videos, so let me explain.

Here at Mercyhurst, I'm having a hard time being able to find games to watch because I don't have FSC or Setanta. I'm doing the best I can to catch as much action as I can online, but it's not exactly easy. Until I get Setanta Broadband and/or FSC Broadband, posts on game action itself are going to be few and far between as I just don't get a chance to see much.

This doesn't mean, however, that I won't be writing here. What I love doing most anyway deals with original content, which made up the vast majority of what you saw last year. I'll use what happens in real life and incorporate it into a larger point, whether it's rules changes I'd like to see, players and teams I think you should keep an eye on, or whatever. Believe me, I'm not going anywhere, so just stick with me until I can get back to full strength here at English Soccer Talk.

Enjoy the new episode, you *******.

I'm Back!

It was a hectic weekend here in Erie, but one that I wouldn't mind living again. I posted early last week that I'd be taking a brief leave of absence to get situated at college, which is what I've been doing for the past few days.

Clearly I've missed a lot in the soccer world with the transfer deadline having come and gone and a whole round of fixtures played. I won't lie; I was only able to watch bits and pieces of a couple games so there won't be any analysis here of all the action -- my weekly All-Star Team will be back when the Premiership restarts after this international break.

The England national team returns to the limelight with its first two World Cup 2010 qualifying games, at Andorra on the 6th and at Croatia in nine days' time. I haven't agreed too often with the roster inclusions of manager Fabio Capello and that won't change with the 23-man squad he picked for these two games, but I was pleased to see him call up Fulham's talismanic midfielder, Jimmy Bullard. Bullard is presumably replacing Steven Gerrard, who will miss the next two weeks after having a minor groin operation. Where’s Peter Crouch? Where’s Darren Bent? Where’s Ashley Young? Theo Walcott?? Wayne Bridge?? Paul Robinson?? Please.

England absolutely has to beat Andorra, and I think anything they get in Croatia would be considered a bonus based on Croatia's talent and how well Slaven Bilić's team plays at home (Croatia is undefeated in competitive matches on home soil since 1994). I don't see that record changing, though England may able to squeak out a draw in this game.

It's good to be back, obviously. College has been great so far but nothing really compares to the beautiful game. I'll be going back to a regular posting schedule from this point forward (hopefully).

A Few Days Off..

Tomorrow I leave for Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, which will be my home for the next three school years. Move-in is Thursday, with the typical orientation/getting used to the campus/meeting people stuff going on the rest of the weekend.

I'll be busy with that, obviously, and just doing the things a new college student does. My blogging pattern isn't going to change -- I'll still be posting daily or as close to daily as possible based on what's going on in the soccer world -- but I am going to take these next few days off to immerse myself in everything up there and prepare for the start of classes next week. If I get a chance and there's something worth mentioning, I'll do a post here, but it's more likely that you won't find much here at least until this weekend.

Just wanted to give everyone the heads-up. Thanks for your understanding.

Premiership All-Star Team--Round 2

Manchester United's 1-0 victory at Portsmouth earlier this afternoon concluded the second round of fixtures in the Premiership. It would be foolish to read too much into the standings at this point in this season, but it's still interesting to see the likes of Hull City and Newcastle near the top of the table while Portsmouth and Tottenham are languishing at the other end.

This weekend was full of unexpected results and exciting finishes, from Steven Gerrard's 94th-minute curling effort to beat Middlesbrough to Mamady Sidibe's late header for Stoke City in their victory over Aston Villa. Fulham triumphed over Arsenal for only the second time in 16 meetings. Sunderland went to White Hart Lane and upset Tottenham -- a result that I told you to watch out for in my post on Friday night.

Here are the weekend's standouts, with the number in parentheses next to their name representing how many points they have in my personal competition. Remember, a player gets 10 points for being an All-Star, 15 for being the Player of the Week.

(3-5-2)
GK: Petr Čech (Chelsea) (10) -- Made five saves to earn the shutout in Chelsea's 1-0 victory at Wigan. These weren't just run-of-the-mill, low-difficulty saves either -- the Czech goalkeeper was sent sprawling in both directions to come up with his stops.

CB: Brede Hangeland (Fulham) (10) -- Hangeland's first goal for Fulham since joining the club last January turned out to be the winner against Arsenal, a game that ended 1-0. As a center back, Hangeland's main responsibility is to prevent the opponent from scoring, which he did, and it's not often that Arsenal fails to do so. Hangeland's goal was a huge bonus added on to his solid performance in defense.
CB: Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United) (10) -- United's win was mentioned earlier and it wasn't as close as the final scoreline would indicate, especially in the second half. Portsmouth generated absolutely nothing going forward, with Vidić the main reason why. He was United's rock at the heart of the defense, shedding blood (literally) for the cause.
CB: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) (10) -- He was turned around a couple times early in the game (though neither mistake cost Liverpool on the scoreboard) but his fluke equalizer was a reward for his otherwise outstanding, if underappreciated, play. Gerrard won it at the death but without Carragher holding the back four together, the captain's goal wouldn't have mattered.

RMF: Stephen Ireland (Manchester City) (10) -- Had the assist on both of Elano's goals in City's comfortable 3-0 home win over West Ham. Forced Callum Davenport to clear the ball off the line with a shot in the 13th minute. You wouldn't know he's a central midfielder by trade based on his performance -- his crossing was great and he was able to get up and down the flank almost at will.
DMF: Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) (10) -- Made his City debut in style, picking up the Man of the Match award for his spectacular effort. Started out in the holding role, but moved to center back when Micah Richards had to be taken off on a stretcher with a head injury barely into the second half. West Ham didn't record an official shot on goal.
CMF: Darren Fletcher (Manchester United) (10) -- Fletcher's second goal in two games, United's only two tallies of the season, was all the Red Devils needed today. The Scottish international certainly wasn't flashy, but he and Paul Scholes pulled the strings in a midfield that led United to 64% of the possession, an extremely high figure for any Premiership game, much less an away fixture.
AMF: Elano (Manchester City) -- Two goals, two cool finishes from the Brazilian.
LMF: Kieran Richardson (Sunderland) (10) -- Fantastic strike gave the Black Cats a 1-0 lead over Spurs in the second half. Sunderland eventually won the game 2-1, and Richardson looked great on the left wing.

ST: Michael Owen (Newcastle) (10) -- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Owen came off the bench in the 53rd minute, had a close-range header saved, then buried one from an almost-identical setup barely a quarter of an hour after he'd entered. Those were Newcastle's only two shots on goal, but they beat Bolton 1-0 anyway.
ST: Ricardo Fuller (Stoke City) (10) -- This guy scrapped and scrapped all game before being subbed out in the 87th minute. Made a beautiful turn around Martin Laursen and finished the play with a great goal from a bad angle to put Stoke up 2-1 at the time.

Player of the Week: Elano (15)

Premiership All-Star Team--Round 1

I'm going to do something new this season. After every round of games -- that is to say, after any league games that have been played between Tuesday of one week and Tuesday of the next (which takes into account the rare Monday night game) -- I'm going to name an All-Star Team based on that week's performances. I didn't do this last year, but I think this is a good way to recognize players that don't necessarily get much publicity over the course of 38 games.

I'm also going to make this a contest of sorts. For each time a player is an All-Star, he'll earn 10 points. My Player of the Week, who obviously will be in the team, gets 15 points. Most points at the end of the year wins, and that should give us a solid indication of who's in the running for Player of the Year in the Premiership and who's in line for other awards and international call-ups.

The formation isn't always going to be a traditional 4-4-2; it can be any "recognized" way to set up a team. I don't want my hands to be bound and have to choose players just to fit a formation, I want to be able to fit as many deserving players as I can into the team. It's not going to be anything outlandish, though, so don't worry.

Here's my All-Star Team for this weekend:

(4-3-3)
GK: Shay Given (Newcastle) -- Did you see those early, short-range saves on Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes? He even took another off the ol' noggin when he denied Fraizer Campbell. Without Given, Newcastle loses that game.

RB: Grétar Steinsson (Bolton) -- Accidental or not, his tally will be a candidate for goal of the season. Also played well defensively.
CB: David Wheater (Middlesbrough) -- Scored the opener, had another disallowed (it should've stood), looked dangerous going forward, and spearheaded the unit that shut down Tottenham's vaunted attack all game long. Played right back in this game, but will move back into the center now that Justin Hoyte has arrived.
CB: William Gallas (Arsenal) -- The captain stepped up in Kolo Toure's absence, as it's usually the Ivorian who is the commanding presence in the center of Arsenal's defense. Arsenal didn't concede a goal, and Gallas was a big reason why.
LB: Stephen Warnock (Blackburn) -- Picture-perfect diagonal long ball to Santa Cruz for the equalizer, great free kick into the area to set up the winner.

RMF: Mikel Arteta (Everton) -- Scored on a terrific free kick from an acute angle in Everton's 3-2 loss to Blackburn. Was their shining light, by far.
CMF: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) -- Everything goes through Barry for Villa. Had some chances going forward, and distributed the ball well to both flanks in a 4-2 win over Manchester City.
LMF: Ashley Young (Aston Villa) -- One direct assist and started two other goals. Terrorized City's defense the entire game.

ST: Dean Ashton (West Ham) -- Scored both goals in the Hammers' 2-1 victory over Wigan.
ST: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) -- Perfect hat trick in seven minutes. Enough said.
ST: Johan Elmander (Bolton) -- Celebrated his first game in the Premiership with a goal and looked very lively before being subbed out in the 76th minute.

Player of the Week: Agbonlahor

Premiership Preview Change of Plans

It's a busy weekend for me, what with the start of the Olympics, the Community Shield tomorrow, and finally attempting to get things organized for my move-in at college in a couple weeks. With those things in mind, I've decided to delay the release of my last four Premiership previews for a couple days.

You'll now be able to find places 4 and 3 on Monday and 2 and 1 on Tuesday. I think the timing is better anyway as we'll be in full Premiership mode early next week with the start of another grueling, entertaining season that weekend.

I may post once or twice before Monday if I see anything in the news that catches my eye, but if not, have a good weekend and the previews will resume on Monday.

Happy 4th of July!

I'd like to wish everyone here in the States a happy, and most importantly, safe, Independence Day.

Even though Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, it wasn't until two days later that Thomas Jefferson's wording in the document itself was approved. It also wasn't actually signed by most delegates until August 2, but for some reason, we've chosen to commemorate American independence on the 4th of July.

This is the 232nd anniversary of that date, which has gone down as the most celebrated of its kind on our calendar and for good reason. With that in mind, I encourage you to spend a few minutes today thinking about how fortunate we all are to live in the greatest country in the world and salute those who risked their lives to separate from Great Britain in 1776. This is a day to barbecue and spend time with family and watch fireworks, but don't lose sight of why we can even do those things in the first place.

Again, I hope everyone has a great day today. Go outside, enjoy the summer weather, be with family. The soccer world always goes on, and it'll be here tomorrow, the next day, and the day after.

Busy Day Today

No soccer-related posts today as I have family in town for my brother's high school graduation tonight.

I've had to spend a little "quality time" with the relatives this afternoon and will be doing the same this weekend, as well as go out to dinner and celebrate with my brother and whatnot. Expect the volume of posts to be down until Monday, when I'll be back and better (hopefully) than ever.

The Euros are really heating up -- I hope you've been able to catch as many games as possible. The second matchday typically kicks tournaments off in style as teams have one game under their belts and know exactly what they need to do to advance. It's been no exception this week.

I'll check back in tomorrow morning.

Interview with Kartik Krishnaiyer

As I mentioned several weeks ago, there is an ongoing commitment from me to make English Soccer Talk better and to make the site grow. I've been working on lining up interviews with several pundits both in this country and in the UK, and a rough plan for a podcast that would debut later on this summer is still on the backburner.

You'll see the first of these interviews a little later in this post. This is the first part of a conversation with my good friend Kartik Krishnaiyer, who you all will remember from his college basketball podcast which I appeared on several times last winter.

Kartik is the co-host of The American Soccer Show along with Dave Denholm, and you can listen to their show weekly on CSRN. Kartik also maintains a blog for CSRN, American Soccer Spot (http://csrnusa.com/ussoccerspot). He is an expert on all things concerning the US National Team, both at the senior and youth levels, and MLS.

On this site, the main focus is obviously English soccer, but as an American, I have a vested interest in the national team and covered the U-20 World Cup in Canada last summer, in which the US played very impressively, winning their group (beating Brazil 2-1 in the process) and reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Austria in extra time.

The senior team has been in the news recently and is two games through a three-match series of friendlies against impressive opposition -- England, Spain, and Argentina. They haven't come away on the right end of the stick thus far and haven't played particularly well in the process, with a 2-0 loss in England at Wembley and a 1-0 loss in Santander, Spain, but are gaining a little bit of credibility around the world by going out and playing some of the world's top nations.

With these results in mind, I asked Kartik specifically about the US National Team and what he sees in the squad and the way it's currently configured. He went to Wembley for the US-England game, so there was no better expert to turn to for first-hand insight and analysis. I also asked him briefly for his pick to win Euro 2008, which starts in less than two days. Here's the first part of our conversation:

After watching the recent friendlies in England and Spain, what were your impressions of the US team in those games and the direction in which they're headed?

"The quality of the US National Team has regressed substantially since the early part of this decade. That's hard to believe when you consider the player pool is deeper than ever, our domestic league, MLS is better than ever and that the game is more popular than ever here in the U.S. But since 2006 we've seen the international retirements of Brian McBride, Claudio Reyna, Eddie Pope and John O'Brien. All four of those players were far superior than the players that replaced them and this has not only affected the quality of the US squad but the style the US has traditionally played. This is something that speaks loudly about player development in the US: we are not at the stage we thought we were in that we are not able to simply replace aging and retired players very easily. That is evidenced by the continued prominent role old veterans Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis and Pablo Mastroeni continue to play in the US setup."

Speaking of that game at Wembley, I know you were there in person to watch. What were your impressions of the new stadium and how was your overall experience in London? As an American, were you frowned upon by the native English fans?

"Wembley is an awesome facility. It's large but still has outstanding sight lines. The facility is easily accessible via the tube and bus. I used the bus to reach the stadium, and returned back to my hotel via the Bakerloo line of the overground and then the tube. As an American it was a difficult night. The English fans were in many cases rude but others were curious about the US team and MLS. Some English fans were actually very interested in specific players in MLS like Rohan Ricketts and Terry Cooke."

Bob Bradley -- He's taken a lot of heat for his team's uninspiring performances over these last couple of weeks. Is he the right man to be leading this team into the World Cup (hopefully) in 2010, or should USSF perhaps look towards a foreign manager?

"I was firmly in Bradley's corner until recently: I felt he did a good job in 2007 of deepening the player pool and giving looks to some players who had been overlooked by Bruce Arena. However in 2008, despite some good results (wins over Sweden and Poland) Bradley has fallen into a pattern of picking the same players albeit in different positions and has reduced Landon Donovan, our best player to a wide midfield position where he sees less of the ball than ever before. Donovan is the key player for the US and passing him over for captain and then reducing his role in the attack was a bad idea. Even worse, Bradley has a clear bias much like Arena did towards players he has coached at the club level."

Heading into the start of World Cup qualifiers this summer, what do you think the starting XI and formation should be for the US? Because Bradley can't seem to settle on one specific way to play or group of players to play with.

"I think the US should play a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1. But Bradley prefers a 4-4-2, which is odd considering the US is one of the few countries that really has never used a 4-4-2 with our national team. We've played a 5-3-2, 3-6-1, 3-5-2, and 4-5-1 respectively in our last four World Cups. The US has traditionally used wide flank play with the likes of Cobi Jones, Eddie Lewis, Frankie Hejduk and others to stimulate our attack, which is why a 4-4-2 never worked for us. The current 4-4-2 utilizing two holding midfielders is a disaster.

Here is my ideal US starting XI (4-5-1):

GK: Howard
RB: Cherdundolo (Hejduk)
CB: Onyewu
CB: Orozco (Bocanegra)
LB: Pearce
DMF: Edu (Mastroeni)
RMF: Dempsey
LMF: Lewis (Beasley)
AMF: Donovan
AMF: Adu
ST: Cooper (Altidore)

For qualifying I think it is critical to take advantage of Eddie Lewis' veteran savvy and his ability to get down the flank despite being 34. I like the idea of starting Michael Orozco who was a key member of San Luis run to the Mexican Clausura playoff semifinals and the US Olympic qualifying team because he is now used to playing in front of tough latin styled crowds . I also like the idea of playing Kenny Cooper a tall target forward up top. The players in parentheses are acceptable replacement starters for the player named."

What do you think the differences were between our U-20 team's success in the U-20 World Cup in Canada last summer and the way our U-21's bowed out woefully in the Toulon Tournament in France just a couple weeks ago?

"The squad. Thanks to MLS' insistence on playing right through international breaks as well as the Mexican League playoffs, a weakened squad was sent to Toulon. That having been said the US has a long history of doing well in U-20 and U-17 World Cups only to see the very same players fade at the U-23 and full international levels. One bright spot from Toulon was the play of Sammy Ochoa whose club in Mexico, Tecos missed the playoffs. Expect to see more Mexican-American players like Ochoa and Orozco who are eligible to play for either nation and who play their club football in Mexico involved in the US player pool going forward."

Who is your pick to win the Euros, and why?

"Germany. They have the most balanced and experienced squad. I like Frings and Schweinsteiger in the midfield as well as Mario Gomez one of the emerging stars of German football in the attack."

So there you go. I'll post the second part of our chat sometime early next week. Kartik makes a lot of good points about the US and the relationship between MLS and USSF, which is in charge of the national teams. From other conversations I've had with him in the past, he and I aren't quite on the same page regarding the senior team, especially on the abilities and performances of Oguchi Onyewu, but we're definitely in the same chapter, if you will, and hope for good things to come from them in the future.

I Want You..To Join English Soccer Talk's Fantasy League for Euro 2008

As you all know, both from my previews here (Group D's will be out later today, with my knockout round predictions early next week) and from coverage elsewhere, Euro 2008 is right around the corner.

I get comments on my posts and E-mails all the time from readers saying that I know nothing about the beautiful game, I'm too young to know what I'm talking about, blah blah blah, all that good stuff. That's fine, I can deal with that, and you're entitled to your own opinions.

With that in mind, I'm sure you'd all like a chance to prove me wrong and show that you can beat me in something. Here's your opportunity.

Sign up for the official fantasy game of Euro 2008 and prove just how superior you are by getting more points than me. I'll be in two leagues, the EPLTalk.com league, run by our friends over at EPL Talk, and my own league here at English Soccer Talk.

It's free and easy to register, so just follow a few easy steps:

1. Visit http://en.fantasy.euro2008.uefa.com

2. If you’ve registered in the past for the Champions League fantasy game, just login. But if you haven’t registered before, click the “Register” link underneath the McDonald’s logo.

3. After you’ve logged in and/or registered, pick your team (one goalie, 10 field players, one substitute)

4. After selecting all 12 players on your team, click on the “Leagues” link on the top navigation bar underneath the word “Rules”

5. Finally, in the “Join a Private League” section, enter the following code to join the English Soccer Talk private league: 26373-5432

The game rules and point scoring methods are all there for you to keep in mind when selecting your team, and it'll be a fun time. Again, here's your chance to make me look dumb, something I know you all are interested in doing.

Change of Plans

Instead of doing the Group D preview today, I'm going to wait until tomorrow or Saturday as I'll have more time then to devote to an accurate, informative capsule for each of the four countries.

I have some work to do this afternoon, but I'll leave you with something for your viewing pleasure in honor of, I guess you could say, England's upcoming friendly against Trinidad & Tobago:

Summer Plans

With the 2007-2008 season winding down, it's time (unfortunately) to wind things down a little bit here as well.

Euro 2008 will be on everyone's minds this summer, and you'll be able to find coverage of that here as I'll be posting a daily recap much like I did for the African Cup of Nations in January. I definitely look forward to watching that tournament, the second-biggest international competition in the world, and will go out on a limb right now and pick England to advance past the quarterfinals and win the whole thing..

Oh wait, England won't be there. Whoops.

In all seriousness, I'm going with Portugal as my choice to win the Euros led by the best player in the world right now, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Posts concerning the Premiership will obviously become more infrequent as there just isn't much to talk about other than player movement and transfers. I'll keep you all updated on that, but the "Useful Soccer Sites" section on the left side of the home page has all the information you'll need to keep up with the goings-on in the summer.

When pre-season friendlies start picking up and teams start getting ready for next season in earnest, English Soccer Talk will pick up again to multiple posts every day (hopefully) like normal.

I'm also still flirting with the possibility of a weekly or bi-weekly podcast during the summer as a way to expand the site. I've lined up a couple of potential guests, so we'll see what happens and possibly by July, the debut of the English Soccer Talk podcast will be available for your listening pleasure.

It's been great writing this season, although I did take a bit of a break last fall, and I look forward to checking in as much as possible during the summer. Can't wait for the 2008-2009 season!

Stay Tuned...

Make sure you check back here at halftime, and again at full-time, of today's Champions League semifinal first leg at Anfield. As I did in both games of the Liverpool-Arsenal tie, I'll have my halftime and post-match thoughts for you to undoubtedly pick apart.

For those of you want to see attractive, free-flowing soccer, this isn't the game for you. It's going to be a grind-it-out, slow-moving affair, with the winner likely only needing one goal to prevail.

My prediction: Liverpool-1, Chelsea-0, with a late goal from Fernando Torres the only thing separating the two sides. In next Wednesday’s return leg at Stamford Bridge, I’ve got a 1-1 draw, which, of course, would be enough for Liverpool to advance to their third Champions League final in four years.

Podcast Possibilities

So, I've been writing this blog for almost a year now and I think it's about time that I sort of upped the ante a little bit. Posting daily (or as close to daily) like I do is great and I love doing it, but I know that you all may be tiring of me, right?

That's ok, my feelings aren't hurt. I'm a big boy; I can handle it.

In all seriousness though, I feel like bringing a guest on for a short podcast/interview/conversation every now and then would be a fresh, new aspect and upgrade to this site.

I'm trying to grow English Soccer Talk and get some more exposure for it, and one way to do that certainly is by making it more interactive with the readers. As a part of that, I'm interested in your opinions concerning this new plan of mine. Should I try and contact some individuals for a 20-30 minute show, maybe once or twice a week? If so, who would you like to hear? Obviously I can't just get in touch with Cristiano Ronaldo or Alan Parry or gentlemen of that stature, but I do think it's possible to still get some well-known figures on for a bit of a chat.

Let me know what you guys are thinking, either through leaving a comment or sending me an E-mail at bills2189@hotmail.com. In the meantime, I'm going to reach out to a couple friends of mine and see what I can come up with.

As I said, I want this site to grow. There are plenty of blogs out there about the Premiership, but not nearly as many of them that can also give you some quality conversation with other people who love this game. That's my ultimate goal, and I'm hoping that you can help in achieving it. After all, you're the ones who come to the site and read what I have to say, so I owe you something in return.

Give me a couple names and I'll see what I can do. I'm going to try and work a little magic here, but I need you guys to help me out and point me in the right direction.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, that's right.

Yours truly turns 19 today, at 5:10 PM to be exact.

I'll take all of your presents and love in the comments section, and hey, I'll take your hate there as well.

Only two more years until that magical 21st birthday. Only 11 more years until I hit 30, at which point I'm over the hill and as good as finished. Oh well.

I was fortunate enough to be born during the best time of the year. Spring is almost here, it's March Madness, and the NHL playoffs are about to begin. Oh yeah, the Premiership title and relegation races are shaping up pretty nicely this season also.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

200th Post

Alright everyone, listen up.

My next post will be the 200th on English Soccer Talk since its inception in May. This site has undergone a few changes over the months and I'm continually tweaking it to try and make it better and more informative but most of all, more enjoyable for visitors.

What I'd like everyone to do is leave a comment after this post and explain what you'd like to see in the future on this site. I'm interested to hear how you all think I could really push English Soccer Talk further into that community of more reputable blogs. Give me your feedback; do you think I should change the color scheme? Should I write about different topics?

Also if you don't mind, give me your suggestions on what I should post about for the big 200. I'm open to anything and whichever option I like best will be the winner. My contact details are on the lower left side of the page if you want to send an e-mail, or feel free to leave another comment.

Here's to another 200 posts!

Guess Who's Back, Back Again

I'm back and better than ever, at least that's how the saying goes. It's been about a month since I posted last and to be honest, I needed to recharge the old batteries and take some time off from writing. As I said in my last post, I started college in late August and it's been a hectic time, getting used to a new school and new people every day.

That said, I'm ready to return to this blog because it's something I truly enjoy doing. I don't want to get all sentimental here so I won't, but suffice it to say that English Soccer Talk and the EPL Talk Community pages will once again be "blessed" with my opinions regarding the beautiful game in England and the US.

I will say, however, that you're going to see a few changes regarding the blog. Instead of two posts a week, the weekend preview and weekend recap, I'm thinking about concentrating more on some "original programming", as Fox Soccer Channel likes to say. You can find a Premiership preview and recap very easily if you look on the Internet, and I don't want this blog to fit in with the hundreds of others out there; I want to try and stand out from the rest. Sure, I still may sprinkle a preview or recap in there every now and then, but there are a few things on my mind that will be my first posts and trust me, you'll want to comment on them.

It's good to be back, and my next post will be the 100th on English Soccer Talk. Here's to many more.

Checking In

So, it's been a while since I last posted here and I'll have my weekend recap up tomorrow hopefully.

Here's the deal. I started my freshman year of college on Monday and I've got a full schedule with classes and uh, extracurricular activities. Don't get me wrong, I'm still trying to put as much time into this blog as I can but I haven't even been able to spend much time watching and keeping up with my traditional "American" sports like baseball and football lately with all this college stuff.

From now until breaks, I can pretty much say that it's going be two posts a week (Predictions and Recaps) and maybe the occasional rant, but believe me, I've got a few topics in mind already that I want to address in the coming weeks (Instant Replay, Refereeing, etc.)

I just wanted to check in, I'm still here and doing the best I can to keep up with what's going on. The Gaffer and fellow EPL Talk Community posters are more than capable of filling everyone in on the latest news and things that I simply won't have time to mention on this blog, so head over to www.eplleague.blogspot.com for that, and check the sites I have listed under "Useful Soccer Sites" regularly.