Helenio Herrera and "catenaccio" usually go hand-in-hand: two words so interlinked that, were there a calcio thesaurus, each would be a synonym for the other. An amazingly successful coach based on an amazingly defensive system, Herrera has written his name in the lore of both Inter and Italy. Besides the bolt-approach to football, however, Herrera was known for one other attribute: he was, in essence, an asshole.

Sinewy strong, athletically blessed and technically gifted Mario Balotelli is the identikit football for the modern game. Yet for every attribute bestowed upon the 6'3" Italian, he is cursed by a propensity for self destruction and dogged by an inane ability to court controversy. Here, Serie A Weekly examines the many complexities of ‘Super Mario'.

Liverpool No2 Steve Clarke believes Jordan Henderson is proving why they spent big-money to sign him from Sunderland.
The England U21 star has started to settle at Anfield since his surprising £20m switch in the summer. The England ace set up Luis Suarez's winner during last weeks Carling Cup win over Stoke with a delightful pass over the top of the defence, and Clarke feels that Henderson is starting to prove his worth:
"It's always been the case in football that the goalscorer gets the headlines but sometimes the assist is just as good," the first-team coach told liverpoolfc.

The transfer window is a funny ol' thing at the best of times, but the January version is stranger still. Personally I'd be happy to see it removed completely and either have no windows or just the summer one. Anyway, I digress. Yesterday we finally captured the signing of Steven Pienaar subject to a work permit on a 4 and a ½ year deal.

We've often said that we think a football manager's greatest attribute, is an ability to inspire players to play at their very best. John Carver with Newcastle manager Bobby Robson Chris Hughton seemed to have that ability, since he had the Newcastle players playing very very well, once he first took over at the club, [.

Die meisten Maskottchen der Fussballvereine, oder die von großen Sportereignissen, sind hässlich. Ob der magere Löwe Goleo oder der fette Dino vom HSV. Egal bei welchem Verein man schaut, selten ist eins dabei wo man sagt: Das ja mal nen tolles Maskottchen. Das sollte jetzt für die Frauen WM in Deutschland gaaaanz anders werden.

Verminator's really back now

It seems like everyone is expecting change at Arsenal come this summer. Depending on which side of the camp you are on, it's either stay with the existing squad, add one or two more players or a complete overhaul of the team. Ultimately, the decision lies with Arsene Wenger and judging from this, there will be some action in the summer.

This morning there are rumours flying around suggesting Scott Parker is the subject of big interest from Arsenal. There are tons of names flying about right now but the main attribute that would make this deal one to get very excited about is the attitude of the player, he is a battler a doer not an excuse maker like so many players in this team.

The most aesthetically displeasing of all Soccer plays is the goalkeeper punt (punting is dropping the ball from the air and kicking or booting the ball while it is in the air or after a quick bounce). It's awful to watch. It hurts the flow of the game and looks out of place compared to the rest of the game.

Paging Yao Ming: Wenger is looking for height

Arsenal gave up 23 goals from set pieces the same as last season. This amounts to 53.5% of goals conceded, the highest in the Premiership. The explanation given by Wenger after Arsenal's humiliating loss to Stoke.

" We have conceded, I think, 21 from set-pieces and only 17 in open play.

So I have been meaning to start this for the last month but with the start of school and the need for me to be prepared for it has pushed this out until now. I thought this would be a good stand alone piece rather than have it attached to the recap. I will be giving each player a rating based on a 1-10 scale with 1 being craptastic and 10 being "godlike".

Today, the Chicago Fire sent out the shortest press release I've ever seen from the club. Outside from the standard information, here are the contents:

The Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced today that the club has waived midfielder Marko Maric

The Croatian midfielder appeared in one match for the Fire before suffering an injury against the Portland Timbers April 14.

Liverpool's assistant manager Steve Clarke has been singing the praises of Jordan Henderson today, waxing lyrical about the quality of his pass to set up Luis Suarez's second goal against Stoke City.
Clarke told the LFC TV Channel that Henderson is 'one for the future', but the midfielder also 'has the quality to turn games' now.

After Aaron Ramsey's impressive performance against Chelsea on Saturday, I thought it's worth to take a look at how the Welshman has progressed this season compared to last season's breakout player, Jack Wilshere. It's not a fair comparison, considering that Wilshere played almost the full season barring an injury out here and there.

The criticism of Arsène for trying to force square pegs into round holes has frequently been levelled over recent seasons. Bendtner, Eboue and Arshavin in particular have all been deployed in areas that would not be their first choice let alone the Championship Managers among us. The reason for this has generally been a lack of depth in the squad exacerbated by the perennial injury problems that have depleted us so cruelly at vital times.

Spain have warmed up nicely ahead of their friendly clash with England at Wembley by revealing a brand new strip for Euro 2012. The outstanding feature of the new kit is its tightly-fitted nature; meaning that opponents will find it harder to tug at the European and World champions an attribute which Spanish striker [.

Uruguayan defender Sebastian Coates underwent a baptism of fire at Liverpool when he was unexpectedly thrown into action during the 4-0 horror show at Tottenham a couple of months ago. Fans have seen glimpses of the player in action since, but what does Liverpool Assistant Manager Steve Clarke make of him so far?

by Adam Bate

In 1999 the No.6 shirt of AC Milan's Franco Baresi was retired. That same
year, he was named Milan's best player of the twentieth century. More recently,
he was officially named as Italy's player of the century too. These are
extraordinary accolades to be given to a defender.

Left foot, right foot. Easy as 1, 2, 3

Qualification to the next phase of Champions League, the first of any English club to do that in this season's competition. Finishing as group winners with a game to spare. Robin Van Persie continued his more than impressive goal-scoring form. Another stand-out defensive performance from the team (the one single minute apart).

Liverpool loved Fernando Torres... now they rightly mock him

Torres had every attribute a Liverpool No 9 should possess. Strength, speed, ruthlessness and a right foot that could blast like a cannon. He was a force of nature, lively and worked tirelessly.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-11-30 22:44:26 from: The Mail

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