Book Review: Feet of the Chameleon by Ian Hawkey
Every two years, managers from across the continent seem to join forces in their criticism of that which has become the most despised competition in European football: the African Cup of Nations. Being deprived of some of their best players for up to a month in the middle of the season can have a highly unnerving effect on managers, particularly if results start going against them during that period.

After conquering AC Milan at the San Siro, Manchester United face their second tough road game in five days when they go to Everton on Saturday.

But the Betfair layers are taking no chances with the champions and rate the Reds as just 1.85 (5-6) chances to win at an opponent in very good form at present.

It's been a good while since I broke this ranking out, so it seemed time for a reboot.The spine of a team can encompass as many as seven of the 11 players on the field, so I again require at least five guys to make up a listed backbone, with each line expected to contribute a man.Away we go...#5 - FC Dallas (Sala, John, Hernandez, Ferreira, Cunningham)This was the agonizer.

Spooky from the excellent Tottenham Hotspur blog, Dear Mr Levy, has given us some of his time to talk football.

Scott the Red: Who has been your best player this season?

Spooky: The fact that I have to stop and think about this would suggest it's been a jolly good year for us.

Anfield man hopes to put nightmare season behind him ahead of World Cup bonanza.

Find, Compare and Buy 2010 World Cup Tickets at

Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!

Whilst its true that Javier Mascherano hasn't exactly covered himself in glory at Liverpool this season it is also correct to state that on his day the Argentine captain is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.

With only days remaining until his debut on the world's biggest stage, Michael Bradley feels the team's mentality and character will provide the US a solid backbone for a special performance in South Africa.

Now that the 2010 World Cup is over for the U.S. national team, the question is being asked whether Bob Bradley should continue as the coach of the U.S. team.

To show how far the U.S. has come under Bradley, USSF president Sunil Gulati (Bradley's boss) said that he was "disappointed" in the team's Round of 16 exit from the 2010 World Cup.

BMO's renovation takes shape
TORONTO FC 1 - COLORADO 0

It took four years but Toronto FC has finally found a way to compensate with terrible road form - don't lose at home... ever. BMO Field has indeed become "Fortress BMO" with TFC having one of the best home records in the league.

The Arsenal legend Bob Wilson has been speaking about Arsene Wenger's policy of buying foreigners over Englishman, and says that the Frenchman even said that Arsenal would go bust if they bought English players! A new report today shows that Wenger has bought a total of 83 players since arriving at Arsenal 14 years ago, and [.

The League Cup is now entering the stage of when the remaining big boys who are flying the flag in Europe enter the fray, and without question the tie of the round is Tottenham vs. Arsenal. Three seasons ago The Gunners visited White Hart Lane and were left humiliated, as they missed out yet again on a cup final appearance by a 5-1 battering.

An article written on MLS Rumors recently made The Case for Miami, in terms of MLS soccer. And while the Miami Ultras are supporters of local soccer teams including Miami FC, we will always welcome a bid for an MLS team whether it is from a major foreign investor like Barcelona or a local soccer company like Miami FC.

By Ollie Irish

Looks very much like Thomas Vermaelen might have fractured his fibula (lower leg) against Villa last night. Arsene Wenger revealed: "The news is not good. [Vermaelen] will have an X-ray on Thursday morning. He is on crutches.

By Ollie Irish

Jo assumes his default position for new club Galatasaray, during a Turkish Cup match at Antalyaspor. What a waste of skin the Brazilian is, as both Mark Hughes and David Moyes discovered to their cost.

Photo: Turkpix/Empics Entertainment

Galatasaray is becoming the fashionable home for Premier League rejects:

Bet you wish you'd shown a bit more backbone in England, eh boys.

The Merseyside derby continues to bring out the worst in people, but for Liverpool this was ultimately a joyous encounter. The hosts had to play the majority of this tetchy and at times violent game a man down after defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Marouane Fellaini, but that made victory over their local rivals even sweeter, and even more significant.

After conquering AC Milan at the San Siro, Manchester United face their second tough road game in five days when they go to Everton on Saturday.

But the Betfair layers are taking no chances with the champions and rate the Reds as just 1.85 (5-6) chances to win at an opponent in very good form at present.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva admits that the fight to finish fourth in this season's Premier League may not be decided until the last day of the season.
Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are tussling with the Reds for that coveted Champions League place, but Lucas is confident that Rafael Benitez's team has the necessary backbone for the battle.

For any Aberdeen fan who knows their history, the date May 3rd, 1980 has a special significance, for it was on that day that the Dons became champions of Scotland, their league title second since 1955. A team comprising of names that would eventually form the backbone of the side that would dominate Scottish football in [.

More photos » Ronald Martinez - Getty Images

Kasey Keller's takedown of Jeff Cunningham back in April was just one of several communication errors that have cost the Sounders points this season.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated interviewed Juergen Klinsmann recently.
One of the great players of his generation, Klinsmann's coaching rep has taken a hit since 2006- the result of a tumultuous tenure at Bayern Munich, where the board jettisoned him after less than one season. But Klinsmann is still a managerial commodity who has drawn interest of late from English Premier League teams and might still have a chance to coach the U.

Danish team sports brand hummel has launched a 2010 World Cup inspired range in time for this Friday's tournament kick-off. The range features a series of tops and trainers as its backbone. The collection includes Old School Zip Tops and low Stadil Slimmer trainers (first seen on Football Fashion back in February) in red, white & [.

Ancelotti lines up move to bring Brazilian to Stamford Bridge

Think England will exit World Cup in the quarter final? Bet with Bet365 and get up to £200 free!

Get Your Anti Vuvuzela T-Shirt Now!

Benfica centre back David Luiz is the man Carlo Ancelotti wants to rejuvenate his ageing central defence.

By Ollie Irish

◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 20

A fan of Brazil holds up a scarf in the stands.

Brazil always beat Chile so it was no shock that they won this match with something left in the tank. The blend of power, pace and guile in Dunga's squad really is a frightening prospect for opponents (Lucio and Maicon, both monsters, could play in a back two on their own), and I can only see Spain or Argentina beating them now.

Gary Neville has launched an attack on the FA after the revelation that Fabio Capello would have to wait two weeks to see whether he would keep his job following England's dreadful World Cup campaign.

The United captain, who hasn't been shy with his feelings about the FA in the past, thinks our footballing organisation need to have more backbone.

Manchester United's veteran captain Gary Neville has leapt to the defence of England coach Fabio Capello and instead insisted that the majority of the blame for his side's gutless display in South Africa lies with the players themselves.

The 35-year-old right-back, who last played for his country in 2007, also berated the FA for publicly announcing that they are to spend the next fortnight considering the Italian's future.

Gary Neville had a pop at the FA after they announced they would take two weeks to decide whether Fabio Capello would keep his job as England manager.

A week before the World Cup began, the FA were so confident in the Italian that they offered him a two year extension on his current contract.

The Senegalese and now ex-Portsmouth defensive midfielder has signed with AEK for 2 years.The deal is reportedly worth 8oo,ooo Euros per season.Dioup prior to Portsmouth played with Fulham where he won a Player of the Year award.Tall,strong in the air and in the tackle,he should provide the backbone thats been missing now in our midfield for a few years.

Today, crews began installing trusses that will eventually form the backbone of our new stadium's most iconic feature, the roof. We will have more pictures and info for you later, but let's start out with these:
The framing for one of the Level 1 suites.

Everybody seems to have having a go at this predictions lark, so on the eve of the new season, RoM is going to tap in to the psychic wavelengths to have a go at predicting how the season will go. After reading preview after preview which has United down as 4th, just as they have done for the past four or five years, I figured it was time to put a different slant on things.

GK Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) Rimando somehow stopped a number of shots that should have been goals Saturday night during his shutout against the Columbus Crew. The 5'10″ keeper was a brick wall and was not about to let anything go past... especially after all of the heat Columbus was talking prior to their match.

1. Back! And Better Than Ever! If By "Better" You Mean "Much The Same As Before!"

This performance was so utterly, objectionably, abysmally abject that I rather suspect Naomi Campbell will be required to testify about it at The Hague by the end of the week.
2.

Once upon a time a trip to Stoke with a depleted team would have been the cue for our lot to step back, usher in the opposition and direct them towards a three-point haul with minimal fuss. Now, however, it seems our heroes have steel, and backbone, and other clichéd, macho-sounding adjectives. They have evolved into footballing vertebrates, who stomp around the dressing-room pre kick-off making clenched fists and shouting "Grrr".

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: Main Listening Report

Each week on languagecaster's podcast we feature a main listening report and on this week's show we spotlight the newly promoted sides in La Liga. You can listen to the report by clicking below and can read the transcript below.

Seems there is only one force in the world that will make Jose Mourinho bite his tongue, and that's the fans at the Bernanbeu. Apparently Mourinho's Real Madrid were jeered by fans during their 1-0 win over Osasuna this weekend, presumably for not playing with enough verve or providing enough excitement.

I swear I'll have a better logo next year. I'm open to suggestions, however...
Ahhh... I'm here at the mint that is BMO Field. The place where ML$E prints money. I'm more compelled to see who, if any, can resist the lure of overpriced concessions. I can tell the tourists know nothing of our plight.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: Main Listening Report

Each week on languagecaster's podcast we feature a main listening report and on this week's show we spotlight the newly promoted sides in La Liga. You can listen to the report by clicking below and can read the transcript below.

On the whole, it was a year of varied results for MLS attendance. With an overall average of 16,675, and an increase of about 4%, it was the league's third best ever. However, while some teams soared, others floundered. The full team by team breakdown looks like this:

The biggest gains took place in New York (which, with a new stadium and two new DP's to play in it, should be expected), Seattle (who went from biggest to, well, even bigger), and Colorado (still one of the smaller sides), with honorable mentions going out to LA (5%, whose attendance still in no way reflects their star power), Chicago (7.

By Chris Wright

Real Madrid's tightly-coiffed director general Jorge Valdano has hit out at UEFA's handling of the red-card fiasco in which the club is currently mired accusing Platini an co. of 'singling out' the Spanish giants after Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso deliberately received second yellow cards for time-wasting t'other night, thus effectively ensuring that they would begin the knockout stages of the Champions League with clean disciplinary records.

In rewatching the Arsenal/United game, a couple more things stood out:

1. Rafael is becoming quite an accomplished defender. Gone is the lunging in and leaving his feet early for tackles. He uses his body better than he's done before and tactically, he doesn't get caught out of position as often.

Estudiantes and Velez Sarsfield: Argentina's new big dogs Apertura 2010 Review is a post from: Just Football

Boca Juniors? River Plate? Forget them. Making his debut for Just Football, Dan Colasimone is hear to explain who the big boys in Argentina really are.

Estudiantes de La Plata is a small club.

Written by Rasp

It's easy to forget that Arsenal is more than just a football club, particularly when we have recently suffered disappointment on the pitch. Arsenal is part of the community and affects people's lives worldwide. Peaches and I were reminded of this last night when attending the book launch of Arsenal 'Til I Die at the Emirates Stadium.