Newly appointed Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas arrives at Stamford Bridge from FC Porto with very little managerial experience, but a growing reputation that usurps even the most accomplished of European coaches. Awaiting the young Portuguese tactician, the toughest job in football – not the act of managing Chelsea Football Club, but the unenviable task of satisfying Roman Abramovich's ambition.

Today is the day pre season starts for Chelsea (apart from Ramires and David Luiz who are with Brazil) and I have to say after a long summer it will be great to see Chelsea back together and preparing for the new season.
I have had my say on AVB ever since he was appointed and so have you and it's now down to business.

After signing Per Mertesacker and being linked endlessly to Mario Gotze, Arsenal are now tipped to land another German the 23-year old winger Kevin Grosskreutz.

Grosskreutz, who is Gotze's teammate at Borussia Dortmund, guided his current team to the Bundesliga title with eight goals and seven assists last season.

Liverpool's new owners have been warned that even the sacking of Roy Hodgson might not be enough to stave off an exodus of their key players, including Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina. Although the manager's departure appears inevitable, and the two Spanish players would not leave during the winter transfer window, frustration at the club's inertia means they will go in the summer if they are not convinced by the new manager and handed reassurances of major investment.

Roberto Martinez had an offer to take over at Aston Villa. Bigger club. Bigger supporter base. More money to spend. Europa League ambitions. Darren Bent and others. But he stayed loyal to his chairman David Whelan by rejecting the move ... Continue reading →

In these modern times, it was perhaps fitting that it came down to a Twitter hashtag to break the news that Newcastle are far from a team with ambitions of reaching their former heights, but a fallen giant slowly eroding to dust.

The sale of Andy Carroll rightly raised eyebrows in January.

Another derby win as Manchester United cement their place as number one in Manchester – not that it was in any doubt of course. But the 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday will quell the noisy neighbours for the moment at least, while also putting paid to any slim title ambitions they had.

"I want to leave Tottenham as friends. I have enjoyed my time there, but now it is right for me to look at another club."

I know it's the Daily Mail, but they can't make shit up like this can they? Can they?

Open arms

Everyone's topic of choice at the moment, Luka Modric, has apparently been speaking to Sportsmail aka Matt Lawton.

By Chris Wright

Looks like Chelsea's efforts to flush out Luka Modric with a £22 million bid have worked, with the Croatian midfielder now admitting that he wants to leave Tottenham for Stamford Bridge, though Spurs have still have a thread to dangle by the wee man has promised not to hand in a formal transfer request.

Despite all the talk about the potential effect of the loss of van Persie or other players like Song and Walcott to injury (to Arsenal's ambitions), Arsene Wenger has still ruled out signing players to back up the key men in the January transfer window. "At the moment, I do nothing in January," he said.

I had mixed feelings after this one. The primary one was exasperation. But I also saw a team of players who haven't played together work hard and play with the right attitude. It's not easy to play the Arsenal way with so many of the starting eleven being non-regulars.

For large parts of the game Arsenal went forward and controlled the game without really creating gilt-edged chances.

Apologies for the long silence. The dust is beginning to settle1, so I'm just going to try to get back into the routine swing of things by making a few observations...

1. Okay, okay. I hear your digital consensus: Pontius has been playing quite well of late. Still, every so often, I'm tempted to throw something at the screen when his ambitions outstrip his talent.

Citi Field wasn't bad but it looks like a step in the right direction for New York's expansion hopes in MLS. (Getty Images)

Most soccer fans in the US had their attentions on Detroit last night (who have MLS ambitions of their own) but the one place Major League Soccer would like to expand to next had a little international game of their own last night.

Good news for Atletico Madrid as they have turned down an offer from Turkish club Galatasaray for Jose Antonio Reyes.

Galatasaray last week launched an offer for Atletico trio Reyes, Diego Forlan and Tomas Ujfalusi, and on Monday completed the signing of Czech defender Ujfalusi. But winger Reyes will not be following in his former team-mate's footsteps.

AVB in his press conference today has more or less told us all nothing is going to happen with transfers until he has had a good look at the players at his disposal. Only then will he decide who he needs to bring into the club and who has to make way.
He said:

'Everybody will be in on July 6.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as his hat-trick helped Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2, on a day when Espanyol boosted their European ambitions by downing Real Zaragoza 4-0.

José Mourinho's men twice had to come from behind against third-placed Villarreal and on both occasions it was Ronaldo who restored parity, the Portuguese forward cancelling out Cani's cool seventh-minute opener just two minutes later before heading in on the stroke of half-time after Marco Ruben (18) had chipped the Yellow Submarine back in front.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as his hat-trick helped Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2, on a day when Espanyol boosted their European ambitions by downing Real Zaragoza 4-0.

José Mourinho's men twice had to come from behind against third-placed Villarreal and on both occasions it was Ronaldo who restored parity, the Portuguese forward cancelling out Cani's cool seventh-minute opener just two minutes later before heading in on the stroke of half-time after Marco Ruben (18) had chipped the Yellow Submarine back in front.

Gerard Houllier claimed the signing of Darren Bent is a "major milestone" that will send out a message about the club's ambitions.

"We are absolutely delighted to have him here and we know he will be a tremendous asset for the months and the years ahead," Houllier said. "His arrival sends out a clear message about the ambition of our football club.

In the wake of Darren Bent's shock transfer to Aston Villa Sunderland manager Steve Bruce attempted to side with the fans by declaring his dismay at the strikers transfer.
Bruce said he felt ‘massively let-down' by the forward, who completed his £18million move to Villa Park on Tuesday.

BOSTON, Mass Young athletes often dream of becoming professionals. In some cases, they even forgo college to take their chances on the big time. Leominster's Diego Fagundez is an even rarer exception. Fagundez is not only going to skip college, he will be bypassing much of high school as well to pursue a pro [.

A year on from having their Champions League ambitions shattered by Lionel Messi at Camp Nou, Arsène Wenger believes Barcelona will face not only a "mentally tougher" Arsenal FC, but one determined to "show how good we are" when the sides contest the first leg of their round of 16 tie in London on Wednesday.

Luis Suarez has spoken of his desire to form a lethal partnership with fellow Liverpool new boy Andy Carroll in the years to come.
The Uruguayan and England strikers joined the Reds in the January transfer window from Ajax and Newcastle respectively.
While Suarez proved an instant hit with Reds' fans, Carroll was injured at first but notched his first goals against Manchester City on Monday.

It seems that Roman Abramovich will have to sigh and wait again to receive a glimpse of hope in his quest to turn Chelsea into a club associated with the 'sexy football' that Barcelona have taken to the pitch through the last few seasons.

Abramovich wants to 'Barcelonize' Chelsea. More interestingly though, Abramovich seems intent on turning his team into a Barcelona through adopting the type of management of the Catalan club's fiercest rivals.

This is a chronological look at Wolves' season, exploring the tactical issues and themes that came up along the way:

Summer Plans

Mick McCarthy's summer spending appeared to be designed to re-establish a 4-4-2 formation. The decision to spend £7m on Steven Fletcher would not have been made if he was intended to be Kevin Doyle's deputy – this was a clear statement that a return to two up front was planned.

Dirk Kuyt believes Liverpool can challenge for a Barclays Premier League title in the coming years.
The versatile Dutchman recently put pen to paper on a new deal at Anfield, and was part of the Reds' side that came close to winning the championship under Rafael Benitez back in 2008/09.
Under Kenny Dalglish, Kuyt is now confident Liverpool can turn their recent fortunes around, and with the backing of owners Fenway Sports Group become a major force in English football once again.

Money, money, money... Is it just me, or is there a definite shift in the perceived focus of the club from the Champions League to the bankers league?
I guess that was unavoidable, as, like most European clubs, OL has been hit financially lately. And, among France's leadership to install financial fair play in football, Jean-Michel Aulas can be considered as a good money manager, as shown by his club's financial evolution under his tenure.

The Daily Mail had an interesting article today about Clint Dempsey and his future ambitions. Dempsey said in the article: "Right now I'm thinking about Europe and playing in the Champions League. That's a goal. Everyone wants to play at the highest level. If someday I get the opportunity to play for a big club in the Champions League, that would be great.

Morning all, a quick Saturday round-up for you.

Let's start with the transfer latest involving as many players as I can find info on.

Cesc Darren Dein has phoned Barcelona to tell them that Arsenal are willing to sell. Barcelona want to offer €30m, Arsenal want more.

Spain defender Mikel San José regards England as a genuine threat to his team's ambitions yet is confident of success as long as Luis Milla's men adhere to their purist principles.

Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric has admitted he wants to leave the club with a move to Chelsea being a strong possibility.

The slightly-built Croat joined the North London outfit in 2008 from Dinamo Zagreb and has been an influential presence in the Spurs midfield.

With Modric's future being speculated upon on the back pages, Modric has thrown fresh doubt on his time at White Hart Lane by admitting that he sees his future in the Premier League away from Spurs.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has said that Luka Modric is not for sale "at any price". Modric wants to join Chelsea, who are expected to offer Spurs an improvement over their initial £22m bid.

But Levy said Spurs were not prepared to sell the 25-year-old midfielder to Chelsea "or any other club".

Manager Harry Redknapp has pledged to show Luka Modric that he can achieve all his ambitions with Tottenham but these comments raise a question that has been gone over time and time again.

Quite simply, should we have done this 12 months ago?

Go back a year and Spurs had qualified for the Champions League for the first time in our history.

AVB (as he has become known here) has spoken to the Official Chelsea Website and has spoken of the challenge ahead. He said:

Is managing a club like Chelsea an ambition you have had since the first time you worked here?
I was an assistant in a very successful technical staff and I always took it in a very professional way, particularly with wanting to be successful but also be part of the group.

Andre Villas-Boas continues to be quoted from his interviews that took place at Stamford Bridge yesterday. First was his interview with the Official Website and last night in an interview with Chelsea TV, AVB is quoted once again. He said:

'We just want to introduce our philosophy and mould it into what is the culture of English football and English players.

Sam Allardyce has ­confessed he still dreams of becoming England manager, writes Tom Hopkinson in today's People. The new West Ham boss even ­reckons that a successful debut season in the Upton Park hot-seat will put him in the frame to succeed Fabio Capello. The 56-year-old is on a two-year contract and his priority is to take the Hammers back into the Premier League.

Sunderland have completed the signing of Manchester United and Ireland defender John O'Shea.
O'Shea, 30, has signed a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light after the clubs agreed an undisclosed fee.
Manager Steve Bruce said: "O'Shea's wealth of experience and versatility will be great attributes for us.

As we start to approach the new 2011/12 soccer season in Europe, most of the news making the headlines concerns transfer requests, player moves and the like, which creates a ton of real interest for all soccer fans. Following your club's pursuit of a star player gets the juices flowing ready for that first League game of the year that we all look forward to so much.

Bill Kenwright has been Everton chairman since 2004

Pre-season is usually a time when football fans begin to feel optimistic about their team's chances ahead of the new season. With new signings to be unveiled as financed by the ever-growing amounts of money pumped into the game it is also a time when fans look forward to seeing some new blood in the squad which can help the team improve from last season's performance, and maybe even win a trophy.

Luka Modric is rumoured to have submitted a second written transfer request to Tottenham.
My feeling on the situation is that the player signed a contract for Tottenham and thus agreed to fulfull his end of that contract, which obliges him to play for Tottenham for the duration of that contract.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Barcelona-Alexis Sanchez ordeal has come to a close, and Barcelona has gotten its man.

Barcelona officially signed Sanchez from Udinese, the Spanish club announced on its website on Thursday. The deal is for five years and the transfer fee was worth an estimated $42.