In the wake of the recent new sponsorship deal with London-based bank Standard Chartered, new Liverpool-Kop writer Joe Rimmer believes it's about time somebody praised the job that 'managing director' Christian Purslow has done since he arrived at Liverpool in June 2009.

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Criticise the Americans all you want, but the one thing they seem to have done well since they arrived from across the pond is to increase the commercial value of the club.

Football: Torres on target as Liverpool crush Singapore
Liverpool arrived at Singapore in the second and last leg of their Asian Tour. With the boost of news that talismanic captain, Steven Gerrard was cleared of his bar brawl, Liverpool turned on the style against a sorry Singapore team.
Prior to the match, Singapore striker, Mohd Noh Alam Shah expressed to reporters that anything could happen against Liverpool.

It's amazing what a difference a year makes. Last summer, the majority of summer friendlies involving Premier League teams were televised live on Setanta US. This summer, though, Setanta US has shown zero friendlies and the majority of games have been aired by either Fox Soccer Channel, GolTV and ESPN360.

Manchester United beat Hangzhou Greentown by 8 goals and ended their Asia Tour in style! This is the most entertaining pre-season game because United kept attacking and gave Hangzhou no chance to fight back.The goal scorers for Manchester United:Ryan Giggs 3,Michael Owen 2,Nani, Zoran Tosic, Dimitar Berbatov.

In keeping with the theme of catching up with belated news, here are the highlights from United's ongoing journey through Asia. United are off to a 2-0 start with five goals in their favor. The fact that they've played the same team twice and allowed a near comeback is nothing to... er... be worried about.

Manchester United continued their Asia Tour 2009 with a visit to Seoul, Korea. A huge crowd gathered at the birth town of their Korean football team captain and superstar, Park Ji-Sung.
As with the match in Malaysia, United started the game slowly and only began asserting themselves after FC Seoul scored the first goal.

Giggs, Owen star as Man Utd rout Zhejiang Greentown
I can't help myself. I have to admit that I have been keenly following the pre-season tour exploits of the Red Devils. Central to my interest is the performance of Michael Owen. And he has surely not disappointed! From the moment he signed for United, I felt he had found the one of two clubs (the other being Arsenal) that could offer him the opportunity to rediscover himself.

Steven Gerrard's jubilant Liverpool team-mates last night celebrated their skipper's not-guilty verdict like one of his winning goals.
The ecstatic players jumped in the air, roaring with delight when they were told he had been cleared of affray as they trained 6,700 miles away in Singapore's national stadium.

As we amble through the 'most amazing transfer season ever', drunk on the memories of the 'closest title race ever' from last season and looking forward to what surely must be 'the most exciting Premier League season ever', it's easy to miss the trees for the forest - or the blinding neon light that is 24/7/365 football.

Manchester United's preseason Asia tour has been full of action so far. Right from bomb blasts outside the stadium to shocking blasts (read goals) inside the stadium, the Red Devils have seen it all.Yesterday they played FC Seoul and somehow managed to win the match after trailing twice. The match started with around 80,000 fans populating the Olympic Stadium in South Korea.