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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

by CARL ELDRIDGE Nicklas Bendtner may well have looked pretty in pink but the most ardent Arsenalista out there must admit the great Dane didn't suit his outlandish footwear nor, indeed, did he live up such a flamboyant choice of footwear that often.

But fair play to Bendy boy, he has ditched the pink 'uns and you can buy them from him if you so desire because he is flogging them on eBay to raise cash for Danish charity.

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.

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. Liverpool usually do well against attacking sides.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner wants to improve his goalscoring record as he believes strikers are judged on the number of scored goals as ultimately that is their job.

Speaking to Politiken, the youngster, who scored a cracking goal against Portugal last week, said:

In order to qualify as one of the world's greatest attackers, then you are judged on the number of goals you score.

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).