Photo by ISIphotos.com

Right in the middle of a playoff run, a fully fit squad is vital for D.C. United to prevent a second consecutive absence from the playoffs.

I hate Interlulls.

Seriously, they agitate me to the point where I think it's a good idea to go out on a Sunday night and drink beer until 2am. And what good does that do you? Monday is still Monday, the Interlull is still the Interlull and you have to face it hungover.

The other thing is that one of my neighbours is right in the middle of some serious construction work.

Rio Ferdinand made his first league appearance of the season in the 3 – 1 victory over Spurs on Saturday after recovering from a thigh injury sustained in training. His prolonged absence from the team has given the United captain plenty of time to reflect and he has admitted he felt sick after the Champions League final defeat in Rome.

After a weekend of surprising World Cup Qualifying results in Europe and South America, two of the planet's biggest players are in danger of missing out on the big party next summer. In my opinion, if Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo do miss out on the festivities in South Africa, the World Cup will be severely diminished by their absence, both in terms of star power and the economics that they drive.

Photo by isiphotos.com

As the playoffs approach, late season additions can add that extra edge to equal playoff success. For the Chicago Fire, the return of Brian McBride from shoulder surgery, perhaps as soon as this weekend, could be just what the Fire need to push them over the top.

Darren Fletcher cruelly missed out on Manchester United's Champions League final last season after being wrongly sent off against Arsenal in the semis.

After watching United get played off the park by Barcelona, with us being totally overrun in midfield, plenty of United fans have wondered whether it could have been different if Fletcher was playing.

I have to admit, so low are my expectations of UEFA at this point, that I'm a bit surprised. But UEFA just announced that Arsenal's appeal over the Eduardo suspension has been granted, and Eduardo will not be suspended for his actions against Celtic.

As I said before, I believe Eduardo dived.

Brazilian midfielder Lucas believes he is winning over the Liverpool fans after being given a tough time by sections of the Anfield crowd last season.
The 22-year-old's form dipped during the Reds' prolonged spell of poor home form which eventually cost them the title.
Lucas has burst back onto the scene this season however as a stronger and more determined player who has even handled the tough job of stepping into Xabi Alonso's shoes.

This weekend, the Wizards welcome FC Dallas to Kansas City in what is a must win for both teams if they want to make the playoffs this year. Both teams can only barely see the playoffs and getting 3 points tomorrow night out at CAB will be big for either team. Dallas comes into this game having put another half a dozen on the board, this time out in LA against the Galaxy.

New England Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered during the Revs' 2-1 win vs. Seattle on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

Ralston suffered the injury after planting his right leg upon landing following an aerial challenge vs.

After a poor start to the season, we can breathe easy again. Two wins on the trot has put Melbourne a point from first place, though the A-League is so tight this season that we're still only in sixth place. But it's good to see the team hit some form at last.

With a third of the season almost done, I thought I'd pop in to share my thoughts on how the mighty Victory are faring this year.

MARKHAM - This story probably should've ran two weeks ago, but on the heels of his pending departure and absence over the next two games (yes he'll miss the semi's and the finals), it is only fitting that the club pay tribute to the new King at Pistolas FC: Steve Ward.
Almost as if in a coup d'etat fashion, Steve Ward took advantage of a crippled leader, Charles, and surpassed him for the All-Time Goalscoring Title, notching his 11th career goal in the final game of the season versus Inter Selects.

Morning, it's a busy one so let's crack right into it.

Arsene's pre-match press conference took place yesterday instead of the Friday before a game but as usual he had plenty to say. Starting with injuries ahead of the weekend's game he said Andrei Arshavin would miss at least 3 games due to a recurrence of his groin injury.

An emphatic case of job done. Roy Hodgson's Fulham XI, featuring only John Paintsil of our regular lineup, produced a fine containing effort and will be well pleased with this point. You want to start a group stage well and we've done just that. With some good home performances we may yet progress.

12:30pm, live in the US on FSC
Last 4 head-to-head:
3-0 Liverpool (a) 05.09.09
0-0 (h) 12.01.08
4-0 Liverpool (h) 03.05.08
0-1 West Ham (a) 01.30.08
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-0 Debrecen (h); 4-0 Burnley (h); 3-2 Bolton (a)
West Ham: 0-1 Wigan (a); 0-0 Blackburn (a); 3-1 Millwall (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Benayoun, Torres 3; Gerrard, Johnson, Kuyt 2; Ngog 1
West Ham: Cole, Noble, Upson 1
Referee: Andre Marriner
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Skrtel Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres
Three games in one week usually leads to rotation in a Benitez side, but we saw the same XI against both Burnley and Debrecen.

This was one of the most boring games I've seen us play this year. No ideas, no creativity and what the hell was up with that 3-5-2. Luxa was definitely trying to compensate for Ganso's absence. However, exposing a medicore defense isn't the best strategy.
Credit to Botafogo who didn't look shy to attack.

The youngsters lined up as follows: Szczesny, Gilbert, Senderos, Silvestre, Gibbs, Coquelin, Ramsey, Wilshere, Traore, Sunu, Watt. Of note the absence of Fran Merida appeared strange, injury must have been the cause of this after his fine pre season form. The opposition were West Brom who have been on fine form of late, beating Boro 5-0 at the weekend and their starting eleven contained a lot

Just six games in to the season and there will be some people who are totally baffled by Manchester United's start to the season. We were supposed to struggle to find the back of the net in Cristiano Ronaldo's absence but have already achieved in six matches what it took us ten games to do last season, by scoring 15 goals.

TORONTO - And the winner is.....
Though the on field success was less than expected, the Pistolas FC Organization evolved and grew in leaps and bounds this year, forming an Executive Branch comprised of Romerinho as President and CEO, Charles as Vice President, Davidinho as Director, and Steve Ward as Assistant Director.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has revealed Brazilian forward Robinho is set to be sidelined for another three weeks after injuring his right ankle.

The 25-year-old picked up a stress fracture while playing in his country's 3-1 win over Argentina on 5 September.

Initially it had been thought he would be out for just a month but Hughes has revised his recovery time.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Right in the middle of a playoff run, a fully fit squad is vital for D.C. United to prevent a second consecutive absence from the playoffs.

Photo by isiphotos.com

As the playoffs approach, late season additions can add that extra edge to equal playoff success. For the Chicago Fire, the return of Brian McBride from shoulder surgery, perhaps as soon as this weekend, could be just what the Fire need to push them over the top.

Full Name: Club Deportivo Tenerife
City: Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Founded: 1922
Stadium: Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López (24,000)
Colors: Blue, White

El Tete return to the Primera after an eight year absence, striking fear into the hearts of Real Madrid supporters everywhere.

A goal down. A man down. And they come back and spank Spurs, 3-1. This was a huge test for both clubs. Were Spurs as good as they looked? Was Utd as vulnerable as they seemed?

What is really impressive about the way Man Utd have turned things around is that they are relying on players already within the club.

So there was us on Sunday afternoon fearing the worst about Didier Drogba and a possible absence from the first team when it turns out it was just CRAMP for god sake! On a good note it means that he won't miss any games but you have to say at times on Sunday it wasn't good watching him dive around and go down.

So there was us on Sunday afternoon fearing the worst about Didier Drogba and a possible absence from the first team when it turns out it was just CRAMP for god sake! On a good note it means that he won't miss any games but you have to say at times on Sunday it wasn't good watching him dive around and go down.

As if facing a desperate Toronto FC team that just happens to be loaded with attacking options isn't enough, the Fire will be playing Saturday night's game at Toyota Park without two of their best - as both Cuauhtemoc Blanco and John Thorrington have been ruled out of this weekend's match. But despite the absence of the playmaking Blanco and the stalwart Thorrington, the Fire (who beat TFC 2-0 on May 16th) is confident that they will be able to walk away from the match with all three points - keeping pace with first place Columbus in the process.

Ne loan signing, defender Zurab Khizanishvili from Blackburn, comes in for his full debut and will operate in the right-back position in the absence of Danny Simpson, who filed a late fitness test today. As expected felow loan signing Marlon Harewood is named among the subsititutes for the first time following his move from Aston [.

September 27, 1993 - Ken Fogarty is voted the APSL Coach of the Year after taking the Tampa Bay Rowdies from a 4-11 start to a final 12-12 regular season record. He had to battle injuries on his squad throughout the season and the absence for much of the season of 1992's team and league leading scorer Jean Harbor.

New England Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered during the Revs' 2-1 win vs. Seattle on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

Ralston suffered the injury after planting his right leg upon landing following an aerial challenge vs.

While Manchester City continue their winning ways, Brazilian superstar Robinho is still working towards a return to training.

Robinho injured his ankle earlier this month on international duty for Brazil, and the stress fracture has forced him to miss City's last four matches. His recovery has taken longer than initially expected as the striker isn't back in training just yet.