Continuing our obsession with FIFA 11, here is a post from my fellow football-loving Bostonians over @thethirdkit

It shouldn't come as a surprise that one of our super-secret-sources has given us the heads up about some of the features that DIDN'T make it into FIFA '11.

Team selection was never really an issue when we were banging them in left, right and centre and the side picked itself, but times are a-changing. While annus horribilis is probably a bit strong, our form since the turn of the year has been worrying, reflected not only by poor results and sloppy performances but now scrutiny of the line-up.

Luis Boa Morte joined West Ham in January 2007. He was signed by Alan Curbishley to help West Ham ward off relegation that season. I don't know if it is a coincidence but the return from injury of a "ready" Boa Morte at a crucial juncture for West Ham this season has a ring of deja vu about it.

This Thursday nights MLS matchup is a 1-1 draw waiting to happen. Of course, one team could come in asleep (like Chicago did at Toronto a couple weeks ago), however, all signs point to a rather conservative finish.

FC Dallas has been extremely consistent all season. They have not scored more than 2 goals in a match, nor have they conceded more than 2.

I have an officemate who's taking a stab at the following the world cup, and he's far enough along that today I found myself explaining France's approach: Possession Football.

I don't know how well the statistics bear this out, but it's what I see when I watch France play. They keep the ball and control matches.

Arsenal defender Johan Djourou believes the Gunners need to show more aggression next season if they are to concede less goals. Speaking to the club's official website, the 23-year old Swiss International said how the team ...

Here's some good news for Arsenal fans! In addition to securing the services of veteran defender Sol Campbell for another season, the Gunners have also received a pledge of improvement from Swiss international Johan Djourou.

While the 23-year old understands that the arrival of Frenchman Laurent Koscienly has already provided a much needed boost to Arsenal's defense, he hopes that this is the year where he rises to prominence in North London.

Ah, Chinese football the future of sport as entertainment. The league is something of a practice in perfecting footballing extracurriculars, and as such they've undergone a number of image hits in recent years; martial arts comparisons, minor scandals, massive scandals, etc.

The latest in their run to footballing supremacy comes from a fan who was displeased with his team, Qingdao, being given a second red card within a three minute period.

Now some of the Aussie media, the experts, want more forwards, two.
And there endeth the tactical analysis of the Aussie print media in general.
Here's part of what FIFA are saying from their recent Tactical Analysis Report of the World Cup.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ showed that nearly
all teams now play with a compact defence and are able to
put even the strongest opponents under pressure.

Omar Cummings scores Colorado's third goal in a picture that says everything about how the night went for Los Angeles. (Getty Images)

30 minutes to build on, 60 minutes to forget.

For the opening 25 minutes, the Los Angeles Galaxy looked like a team that no one could beat. They were quick to the ball, aggressive on offense, monsters on defense, playing a quick, crafty, creative game that presented them with dangerous chance after dangerous chance, including a just-offside gol from Edson Buddle in the 1st minute.

VANCOUVER, BC — It was a dream-come-true for two Vancouver Whitecaps players but a nightmare for three others. The Major League Soccer-bound Caps rewarded central midfielder Terry Dunfield and centre back Greg Janicki with MLS contracts Friday but released goalkeeper Simon Thomas and defenders Willis Forko and Luca Bellisomo.

Liverpool legend Alan Hansen feels that this week could be the perfect time for Rafa Benitez's side to face Arsenal.
The Reds head to the Emirates on Wednesday having put together a seven-match unbeaten run. They have also kept clean sheets in six of those seven games.
Arsenal, in contrast, has endured a diffcult last few weeks, and has just suffered consecutive defeats to Chelsea and Manchester United.

Liverpool defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos has been pummeled by elbows, had a tooth knocked out and been red-carded in a Merseyside derby - but he wouldn't change life in the physical Premier League for anything.
The 30-year Greece centre back missed the midweek defeat at Arsenal because of his sending-off against Everton and will also be suspended against Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos believes he has adapted well to life at Liverpool and is relishing the physical nature of the English game.
The Greek defender has been one of the Reds' most consistent performers since his summer arrival from AEK Athens and has played a key role during the club's recent rise back into the top four.

This campaign is the first I've seen for the WPS that looks like it was designed by people who play and/or actually watch the sport. These ads are actually quite traditional - when promoting men's sports. Women's soccer hasn't gotten this treatment (closest was a Gatorade commercial with Mia Hamm years ago.

WAYNE Rooney has been urged not to curb his aggression and told his temper will be one of England's greatest strengths during the World Cup. Team-mate John Terry reacted to Rooney 's brush with authority in the ...

Every man and his dog seems to have an opinion on Wayne Rooney and his temper after he got booked in a friendly.

Rio Ferdinand

Wayne is experienced now. His disciplinary record has been magnificent over the last couple of years. Since the incident in Germany I think he has done so well to get to where he is now.

So France Manager Raymond Domenech sprung a surprise: Abou Diaby started ahead of Florent Malouda. It was a decision that made good sense to me because I like Diaby's game quite a bit more than Malouda's, and I would argue that the decision paid off.

France controlled the match.

Diego Forlan looked dangerous a few times, but most of the pressure was being applied by France.

Yes folks, in the midst of parent-teacher nights, reports and teaching, I've managed to keep up with the World Cup...just.
And what a dreary specatcle it has been, on the whole. Commentators are running through their repertoire of polite terms for dull football: "cagey", "cautious", "a chess match", "patient", "probing", etc.

... In their last 15 minutes of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Italy showed an attacking desire and an aggression that had been missing for nearly the entirety of this tournament. Perhaps from arrogance, perhaps from just being a bit over the hill compared to their competition, Italy looked like a team who felt something less than their best was going to be more than enough to coast into the last 16 against the likes of Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia.

Friday, July 2nd, 15:00 GMT, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

This is how you kick off the quarter-finals! Two legitimate World Cup contenders will be battling it later today, and it's only the quarters. This match should be phenomenal. Both teams go about winning in very different ways.

(Angeleri is in the red and white strip)

Sunderland expect to complete the purchase of Estudiantes right-back Marcos Angeleri for a cool £1.5 million. The finer details of the deal are going to be fulfilled over the weekend and the Argentinian is relishing the prospect of the Premiership.

Sunderland expect to complete the purchase of Estudiantes right-back Marcos Angeleri for a cool £1.5 million. The finer details of the deal are going to be fulfilled over the weekend and the Argentinian is relishing the prospect of the Premiership. This is manager Steve Bruce's fourth signing of the summer, following the deals for Cristian Riveros, Simon Mignolet and the recent year long loan signing of Eygptian international Ahmed Al-Muhammadi.

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. I was so shocked by Almunia somehow lifting a trophy without fumbling and dropping it that I was semi-catatonic and unable to write for the rest of the day. Several stories to mention:

First game highlights:

Second game highlights:

We won the Emirates Cup again.

The Portland Timbers (9-7-7, 34pts) have now taken over sole possession of 4th place in the overall league standings with a 1-0 win over the NCS Minnesota Stars on Saturday evening. The Timbers went undefeated on their 2-game road trip, starting with a 1-0 win against AC St Louis last weekend and with the playoffs just over a month away, this could signal the start of the team gathering some real momentum before the season finishes.

Arsene Wenger was asked about the upcoming game with Blackburn Rovers this week, and was reminded about how angry he was after least season's defeat and his criticism about Blackburn's agressive tactics. Wenger used the opportunity to remind the referee's what are allowed in the rules...... "When a team plays long ball and head the ball [.

Having re-watched the weekend's game I now feel ready to comment on proceedings. The starting eleven was almost as we had predicted, RVP given the lone striking role with Arshavin and Walcott retained in the wide forward roles, Cesc returned alongside Diaby and Song in the middle. We started positively both offensively and defensively, there was a bit of aggression about our defending which is

More than a year ago, Maurice Clarett said he wanted to play football again. At the time, Clarett was in jail and his wishes were written on his personal blog. Today, Clarett is a free man and has, by all reports, turned his life around. In fact, Clarett is taking classes at Ohio State. And now his wish to return to football has become a reality.

What a couple of weeks it's been for our dear Wazza. The issues off the pitch needn't be repeated as it's been all over the news since word first got out. I'm still a little unsure of how to feel about it all. Which got me to thinking-what to make of this whole Wayne Rooney situation??
He's been quite easily my favorite player the past few seasons.

It's always tempting to react to Sam Allardyce's comments with aggression, anger and vitriol. However there's simply no point in getting angry, it's far more amusing to actually analyse the content of this fat walrus' words and systematically show that they are the bitter ravings of a very sad, paranoid and unpleasant individual.

I swear I'll have a better logo next year. I'm open to suggestions, however...
Ahhh... I'm here at the mint that is BMO Field. The place where ML$E prints money. I'm more compelled to see who, if any, can resist the lure of overpriced concessions. I can tell the tourists know nothing of our plight.

Manchester United legend Mickey Thomas has come out in defense of United's No.10 Wayne Rooney.

Rooney has not been in goal scoring touch for the past few weeks and has been disturbed off-field due to allegations regarding his personal life .

The Legend had this to say about the English Striker:

"People are looking at Wayne Rooney now and trying to find a problem with him all

the time.

The margin of error is shrinking. In years gone by, managers would have more time to adapt and to get results. Nowadays managers are on a short leash. And someone like Roy Hodgson, even after nine points from nine games, is hanging by a thread.

Sure, Liverpool finds itself stuck near the bottom of the table, but I've been disappointed with what seems like a witch hunt by some Liverpool pundits to get Hodgson sacked.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk v Arsenal
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The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Let's just start by calling this what it was. It was a game against a good team who have never lost at home since moving to their current stadium, in which they needed a win and started their best team, and we didn't need to win, and rested many of our key players.

Lets be honest. Being a referee doesn't look like too much fun. A career choice that never pushes too many friends in your direction, as well as weekly scrutiny up and down the footballing world that even Joey Barton wouldn't feel comfortable with.

A character in the great screen production that we call football, who was originally casted as the handsome sheriff who never got in the way of the fun, but made sure things ran along smoothly.

Editor's note: PSP is running season reviews for each Philadelphia Union player — one per weekday for the next few weeks. You can read all the reviews here.

When Philadelphia Union drafted defensive midfielder Toni Stahl in the MLS college draft's second round this year, it looked like a steal.

During Manchester United's 4-3 win over City at Old Trafford last season, two stewards allegedly threw a blue down the stairs, breaking both his legs.

With the two stewards, Mark Roberts and Paul Stringer, both charged with grievous bodily harm, the blue, Peter Sweeney, went around selling his story to the tabloids.

Cluj Manager Sorin Cartu, or I should say former Cluj Manager Sorin Cartu, took out his aggression last week on a dugout window during his team's loss against Basle in the Champions League.

Watch the incredible video above. Shortly after the incident, Cluj sacked Cartu. No surprise really.

On the face of it Arsenal's clash with Stoke is not really one to get the pulses racing when it comes to following the Live match score centre this weekend. But after the events of last season the match at the Emirates is likely to contain as much spice and passion as that of a [...]

This was yet another great and memorable year in sports. Most of the memories start with the product in field, court or floor and that product begins with the coaches.

They shape the identity of their team, prepare them to handle adversity, give them the plays and strategy to succeed and mold the individuals on the roster into one team—a job that is much easier said then done.