Carrying on from our look at the goalkeepers and defenders in Part II, it's now time to address the midfield and forwards. Once again, note that I'm including the loanees and injured reserve guys in this roundup. Midfielders John DiRaimondo: With... Click to continue reading...

It goes without saying that Saturday night's playoff elimination at the hands of Real Salt Lake was an incredibly gut-wrenching defeat for the Fire. It's tough any time a team bows out of a competition due to penalty kicks, but this one was especially painful for Chicago - who has now been eliminated from the Eastern Conference Final in three consecutive seasons.

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As Taylor mentioned, I will be one of the day-to-day writers for my beloved Red Devils. So let's get this party started by doing a massive recap of our past "big" games:

CSKA Moscow vs MUFC (CL Group)

The Good : Well we qualified, and that's what really counts doesn't it ?

The Bad : As much as I love him, I'm going to have to call out Mikey Owen.

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Attackers Davy Arnaud and Claudio Lopez are both up twice for the AT&T Goal of the Year award. Davy is nominated for his long-range, left-footed bomb in Week 1 and a give-and-go and give-and-go effort in Week 13. Lopez is up for his free kick in Week 10 and his past-the-halfline bomb in Week 19. Click to continue reading...

The Fire has confirmed an AP report that midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be leaving the club at the end of the year to join Mexican second division club Veracruz.

Blanco, who played for Veracruz in 2004, is in the final year of a three year contract he signed with the Fire prior to the 2007 season.

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It only took 1 minute to decided the outcome of Wednesday nights state playoff soccer game between the Mahtomedi Zephers (14-3-3) and St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (17-0-2).

William Corcoran from the Zephers put one into the back of the net on an assist from midfielder Michael Murphy 1 minute and 7 seconds into the game.

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It only took 1 minute to decided the outcome of Wednesday nights state playoff soccer game between the Mahtomedi Zephers (14-3-3) and St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (17-0-2).

William Corcoran from the Zephers put one into the back of the net on an assist from midfielder Michael Murphy 1 minute and 7 seconds into the game.

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Barca's defense of the Copa Del Rey title begins against third division club Cultural Leonesa. There's been talk that coach Pep Guardiola wouldn't be giving much importance to this competition in light of the tight match schedule, but Pep had something different to say at the pre-match press conference:
"We have the same motivation to win this competition as we had last year. Click to continue reading...

Benjamin Franklin once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

If that's true, then the coach and attacking players for Columbus' MLS side are certifiably insane.

Fellas: No matter how many times you take the ball down the wing to the corner and cross it in hoping for someone to miracle it into the goal, it ain't gonna happen.

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Yesterday's game was interesting for a variety of reasons. The games after an International break usually herald the banana skin fixtures, with either injuries or jet lagged stars contributing to upsets, and Only Man United and Arsenal managed to evade the slip up, with Liverpool and incredibly Chelsea losing the initiative.

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The most intriguing match of the weekend involving Americans Abroad, however, is the Fulham-Hull City clash, where Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson will take on Jozy Altidore in a battle of American attackers.

Hull City re-visit the scene of their last away win as they travel to Craven Cottage to meet a Fulham side who have lost two out of three at home.

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After dropping three straight matches at home to MLS opponents, and with our most consistent defender and our two most dynamic attackers out, most fans didn't really expect DC United to win this match. Especially not against the soon-to-be back-to-back Supporters' Shield winners. And it may not have been an attractive victory, but it was a victory none the less. Click to continue reading...

Sunderland battled bravely to secure a 1-0 win over Liverpool at the Stadium of Light and exacerbate the anxiety of Liverpool fans who are painfully realizing that their team will not win the Premier League this season.
Darren Bent controversially scored for the Black Cats in the first half when his shot deflected in off a balloon which had been tossed onto the pitch by a fan. Click to continue reading...

" I once described Mani to a Lebanese newspaper as a virus! Once he got hold of you he was impossible to shake off. I dont know if they understood but the opposition players soon did.
We then progresed through to the AFC cup semi final, an incredible acheivment for such a small club captained by Mani. Click to continue reading...

It's because of the mess that Argentina is in that more attention is not being paid to Uruguay. Talk to people who follow the team or live down there and you hear tales of malaise and depression. Beyond having low expectations for the national team, people are losing interest. Only 30,000 people showed up for the Round 16 win over Colombia: twenty thousand less than came to see the Brazil match in Round 14, forty thousand less than capacity. Click to continue reading...

Antonio Cassano will not make the national side as long Marcello Lippi is in charge of Italy.I hope i am worng, at 27 this is Cassano's last hurrah.For Lippi past is prologue and Cassano's history precedes him and he is now forever defined as the crazy one who pulls underwear over his own head.My words not necessarily the medias. Click to continue reading...

First off, the highlights:

AEKMAN74 posted a review earlier on this match which covered most of the main points so be sure to check that out as well. I'd just like to add a few things.

We lined up with Saja as keeper, Araujo, Arce, Majstorovic, and Georgeas (who played left back) playing defence, Hersi, Geurreiro, Jahic, and Manduca playing Midfield, with Scocco and Blanco playing attack.

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First off, don't forget to read Javier's post from yesterday. It's a good one.

Today, it's an analysis of VCF's 'defense' from the perspective of last weekend's Atletico Madrid draw by intrepid supporter/commentator Nithin, complete with videos from Kyle's excellent Locos 4 Los Che.

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One thing is really starting to infuriate me as a watching fan; our persistence with Cesc and Van Persie as our only set piece takers. Do not get me wrong, some things are working fine, confirmed by the goals from Gallas and Vermaelen. However we can still improve.

Sometimes I think the knowledge that he will get go after go means that Robin uses many to get his aim in.

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We should see a bit more of this in the near future: Gerrard scoring
Steven Gerrard has been used as a traditional, rather than attacking central midfielder so far this season - curbing a bit of his attacking enthusiasm in Liverpool's lineup as he has stayed deeper alongside Lucas while allowing Benayoun - Kuyt - Riera to roam in front of him and pick up attacking returns. Click to continue reading...

In the midst of one of football's largest debates about diving, Robin van Persie has cleared the air about strikers' feelings about going down too easily. In a telling interview with The Times, the Arsenal striker revealed that he sometimes exaggerates contact and goes down but only to get what is rightfully his.

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Playing without injured attackers Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Chris Rolfe, the Fire played to what they called a "disappointing" 2-2 draw with Toronto FC at Toyota Park tonight. The second place Fire, who has now tied three matches in a row, fall five points behind the league leading Columbus with the result - effectively eliminating them from the race for the Supporter's Shield.

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My man Richard Broad and I are reunited Sunday afternoon for the start of another season broadcasting college soccer on the Big Ten Network. We'll be calling the men's game between the last two conference champs, Ohio State (4-3-0) and Michigan State (4-1-1), which starts at 2:30pm ET but won't air until 4pm ET (so you can bag all those plans you had to watch the NFL).

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Quote: goalpost
Noun
1. either of two uprights supporting the crossbar of a goal
2. move the goalposts to change the rules to ensure the desired results I frequently move the goalposts to suit my own needs – sometimes because I want to score, sometimes because I want others to miss. Click to continue reading...

Michael Owen has been a polemic figure throughout his career. At 29 years of age many critics claim that he is already past his prime; that his workrate has slowed, his injuries have multiplied and his goal scoring has come to a shuddering halt. Others believe that his best is yet to come; that he has plenty of energy left, that his injuries mostly come down to bad luck and that he is still, statistically speaking, one of the most lethal English strikers around.

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I'll be honest: I haven't watched Valencia CF as much as I'd like to this season.
One thing or another in my ‘real' life has kept me from Our Beloved.

So imagine my joy to notice my agenda open this afternoon and Valencia visiting Getafe?

My first full VCF match of the season.

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This was going to be longer, but I had so many clips, it seemed best to separate them all into a Video Tuesday post. That will arrive shortly...#1 - I caught up with recovering Guimarães midfielder Kamani Hill, who has fingers crossed to make his club debut in Wednesday's Portuguese League Cup.Speaking of American attackers trying to make comebacks, Soccernet all-star Ravi Ubha talks with Click to continue reading...

Frank Rijkaard has enjoyed an absolutely brilliant start with Galatasaray. The team has NOT lost one single game since he has been appointed. Won all the 6 games in the Super League and qualified to the group stage in UEFA Europa league. Along with his assistant, Johan Neeskens, he has probably created the best coaching staff in club's history. Click to continue reading...

Wigan Athletic

Last Season: 11th, 12-9-17 (45 points, -11 goal differential)

Recent Form: WLLLW

Away Form (last season): 4-4-11

Last Meeting: Wigan Athletic 1-Arsenal 4 (4/11/09)

Back to league action tomorrow with a home matchup against Wigan.

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There is no other way to describe last night's game against Everton,other than to say we were outclassed,in every aspect.Bajevic's starting line up left me scratching my head,with 3 central defenders and no Nemeth?Our midfield of Kafes and Makos never saw the ball as they had to cover so much space,which meant our attackers in Leonardo,Scocco and Blanco,kept on having to retreat,which meant we could never go forward with numbers confidently, in the 1st half,although Scocco was the best of the three.

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I started writing this as a reply to the comments in the last match reaction, but I figured this discussion worthy of its own posting, and what better format to use than my infamous Versus feature.
The theory here is that one of these two players will be starting next to Dejan Jakovic when the Canadian returns from hernia surgery. Click to continue reading...

Before yesterday I knew about as much about Debreceni VSC as I know about the Faint Object Spectograph on the Hubble Telescope. They are among the "new kids" in the Champions League and not knowing anything about their club (or their league) forced me to underestimate them greatly. I assumed this would be an easy win for Liverpool.

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I was a little concerned coming into the last fixture. It wasn't because Burnley has already beaten United and Everton. It wasn't because Burnley aren't afraid to attack. I saw these things as healthy signs for Liverpool. Â Liverpool usually do well against attacking sides.

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Back again. I missed out on commenting about our victory last Saturday against New England which brought some renewed enthusiasm to the KC faithful. This was mainly due to the fact that there was way too much soccer to watch with the WC qualifiers over the weekend. A good dose of soccer overload which was great

I did watch the game against NE but did not really get overly excited because KC really needed to get a streak going after the string of goaless games before one could cheer wholeheartedly and think about a turn around.

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Unless you were a fan of Real Madrid, Manchester City or a couple of other clubs dotted across the continent, this summer's transfer window was a major anti-climax, nowhere more so than at Liverpool FC.
Glen Johnson's arrival was a welcome improvement to the squad, but this was undoubtedly offset by the departure of Xabi Alonso. Click to continue reading...