Possibly the best attribute a player in your team can have is to be a penalty taker. But until the season is underway, it can also be one of the hardest things to tie down. Preseason games are indicators only, and the presence or absence of something happening in a preseason game does not indicate we should take that as a given either.

The Premier League is not that great

I remember the first time the ball was put in to touch to allow treatment to an injured player, it wasn't that long ago, a world cup game if I recall correctly. I had a lump in my throat when the ball was given back to the team that put it out, at this display of sportsmanship gracing the beautiful game.

Last night, FC Barcelona came back from an 0-1 deficit with a late goal from Iniesta to advance to the Champions League final. In the final few moments as Chelsea frantically tried to score another goal, Michael Ballack took a shot that hit off the upper arm/shoulder area of a Barcelona defender. As the ball was cleared out, the Chelsea midfielder and German international began screaming at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo over what he thought was a blantant handball.

Its a list, and a damned long one, but well worth taking a look at! We love Four Four Two, almost as much as we love Fennec Fox's.

Our friends over at Four Four Two have compiled their annual list of the top 100 players in the world today, take a look below and let us know what you think?

One cannot help but notice that when it comes to the German football players, not many of them fancy playing in the Premiership. I first started following the German Bundesliga around half a decade ago; the reason why I tuned in every single week to catch up with some Deutsch football was that I could never get to see enough German representation in the Premier League.

The aftermath of the Chelsea v Barca Champions League semi-final game yesterday has been... well, nasty. I can understand why Chelsea supporter's feel crushed and I won't dig the shank in deeper. But I have to say that Drogba's and Ballack's performances after the game and the supposed "handball" incident with Eto'o respectively, as well as manager Hiddink's comments about some kind of UEFA conspiracy that prevented Chelsea from winning, were ridiculous.

One of the most talked about incidents towards the end of the controversial Chelsea-Barcelona semifinal in the midweek was the reaction of Chelsea's German midfielder Michael Ballack as he protested against one of the many refereeing blunders made that night. Ballack raced towards the official and came within inches of getting physical with the infamous Norwegian.

Here's Herr Ballack enjoying yesterday's epic Federer v Roddick snooze at Wimbledon (16-14 in the final set? It should have been exciting, but it wasn't). Can you spot the Chelsea midfielder? Clue: he's the one wearing the eye-burningly horrific...

Chelsea 4 - Liverpool 4 (Global 7-5)
(Champions League, Abril 14, 2009)
Lo habíamos dicho aquí desde hace mucho, al Liverpool le gusta el drama o al drama le gusta el Liverpool, y hoy se sabia que los reds si morían seria de una forma dramática y así fue.
Los porteros hoy tuvieron errores, pero el mas doloroso fue el de Reyna, en el momento menos indicado.

Lo sucedido el pasado miércoles al término del encuentro de semifinales de Liga de Campeones entre Chelsea y Barcelona ya empieza a tener consecuencias, y eso que la UEFA no hará oficiales las sanciones al club inglés -y a Didier Drogba y Michael Ballack en particular- hasta la próxima semana.

I don't mention it too much when I post the weekly Top 25s, but I'm a Newcastle United supporter. (Yes, it's been a long season.) Among the English Big Four, I usually root for Chelsea for a couple of reasons. One is just residual respect that I have so Jose Mourinho. The other reason is, primarily, that I just don't care that much for the other three.

Chelsea's German midfielder chases inept Norwegian ref... Poor Ballack, ever the bridesmaid and edging ever closer to retirement. That's all folks! [Via Dirty Tackle]...

Alex Ferguson's major fury over referees Ballack and Foy is indispensable. Have the players' mental attitudes toward the game changed? Has the departure of star player Cristiano Ronaldo made a huge impact on them?

Wir sind hier zwar ein - oder nein, der! - Bundesliga-Blog, aber einen kleinen Nachdreher auf die Länderspieltage kann ich mir nun doch nicht verkneifen. Vor den Länderspielen erneuerte Joachim Löw seine Kritik an der Bundesliga. Der Bundesligafußball muss schneller und technisch besser werden, ja freilich.

Nicolas Anelka rejoined Chelsea this week after a three week absence. The question to me is, does it even matter? Do Chelsea even need him? Not only does it even matter, but has Anelka ever been worth his transfer fee or salary when all things are considered?

I'll answer the first question right now.

It's a big game today in a competition that is by far this side's best chance at a trophy. Kickoff is less than fifteen minutes away, and here is a look at the starting lineups:

Arsenal: Fabianski, Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs, Walcott, Fabregas, Diaby, Denilson, Van Persie, Adebayor.

(Arsenal-Chelsea 1-0. Walcott)
(Arsenal-Chelsea 1-1. Malouda)
(Arsenal-Chelsea 1-2. Drogba)
ARSENAL(4-4-2): Fabianski; Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs; Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson (41' st Nasri), Diaby; Van Persie (31' st Arshavin), Adebayor (38' st Bendtner).

Real classy from Chelsea. It probably started with Mourinho, instilling arrogance in them, but after the final whistle they just morphed into four year-olds in need of that Supernanny lass. John Terry probably has a right as captain to have a quick word with the ref, but not to scream in his face and finger-jab.

The Norwegians are not taking this too kindly.

Today, Drogba's apology was posted on the Chelsea website.

"I was very upset at what happened during the game, but having seen the pictures on TV I accept that I overreacted."

Good for him.

Ovrebo had to be smuggled out of England, switching hotels.

It turns out that this wasn't the first time that Andres Iniesta scored a last-gasp winning goal against Chelsea.In a Nike Cup match between the youth teams of Chelsea and Barcelona ten years or so ago a 16 year old Iniesta scored a late winner to see Barca knock Chelsea out of the tournament.It would have been a complete deja vu thing if a 16 year old Drogba and a 16 year old Ballack had also been around and had given the ref a hard time at the end of the game.

According to World Soccer.com Chelsea look set to sign CSKA Moscow and Russia left sided player Yuri Zhirkov. Zhirkov typically plays in a left midfield or left wing position for CSKA, but is used as a left sided defender for the Russian national team when managed by soon to be departing Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink.

Last weekend's FA Cup final merely served to rubberstamp what we all knew anyway, Guus Hiddink is something of a managerial genius. Indeed, it is a testament to how the Dutchman has gotten his Chelsea side to perform over these past 3 months, that even when Everton opened the scoring at Wembley, there was still an inevitable sense that they would recover to turn it around.

Benzema is unveiled at Madrid.

Since the summer transfer window has opened the English Premier League has gotten a taste of its own medicine and apparently it is bitter.

Many coaches, players, and columnists have hit out over Real Madrid's spending over the past months. And they would have had every right to do so, after all Madrid has paid exorbitant prices for football's biggest stars, something that probably isn't over yet.

The post Cristiano Ronaldo era ends. The Ancelotti reign begins. The Michael Owen experiment will get proof tested. Lots of little subtexts to the Community Shield match which takes place today at Wembley. Kick off at 1500 BST

Chelsea's attack will be without the services of Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov, out through injury.

Enthralling derby at Stamford Bridge as Ashley Cole's header put the game in Chelsea's favour before goals from Ballack and Drogba killed of a resilient Spurs side.

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1-0 Ashley Cole

2-0 Ballack

3-0 Drogba

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Entre este próximo fin de semana y la mitad de la próxima, se juega la recta final de la clasificación para el Mundial de Sudáfrica que se celebra el próximo verano.
La cosa está que arde, selecciones clásicas en problemas, otras que contaban menos jugando muy bien y equipos que no se juegan nada y que serán jueces de sus rivales.

Der Mannschaft has done it again. Miroslav Klose found the back of the net in the 35th minute to give Germany the 1-0 win over Russia on their plastic pitch. Credit has to go to Adler and his defense to hold off the Russian offense lead by Arsenal midfielder, Arshavin. This was definitely match to watch over the weekend.

The balls have barely been pulled out of the glass bowls... but we're already delivering some immediate reaction from today's star-studded draw in Cape Town for the 2010 World Cup. Sepp Blatter and football fans alike should be very pleased: there are going to be some mouth-watering encounters at next summer's tournament – England v USA, Brazil v Ivory Coast and Germany v Ghana to name a few.

Seven months ago Luiz Felipe Scolari was hired to take the manager position of Chelsea, and on February 9, 2009, he was fired after a lackluster season thus far. The problem with the firing is that they got rid of the wrong man. Now there are 11 men on the field and only one manager, so getting rid of the manager is the easy thing to do since you can rarely eliminate three or four non performing players.

Ten things I noticed from this week's Champions League semifinals:

1. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

Results lie. Sometimes. If not, then in the last 5 years I've been privileged enough to watch the great Greek team of 2004 justly claim their prize as the greatest international team in Europe.

Signed for a big club, you could have signed for a big club!

"Chelsea's Ballack Goes MENTAL" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

After all was said and done at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday afternoon, one thing was certain: the game was as entertaining as it was hyped up to be.

The game was dominated in possession by Barcelona, but in opportunities by Chelsea. Michael Essien set the pace for Chelsea, with a majestic strike in the 9th minute.

A London derby is in the cards. With third place in the Premier League at stake no less. And all I can really say is, eh.

No doubt Chelsea's tumultous midweek adventure has taken its toil on more than just this supporter. But I'll be damned if I'm simply not particularly interested in this weekend's top four clash with Arsenal.

What's the German for swollen nutsack? So, congrats to Herr Ballack, who came off the bench to help Chelsea to victory in the FA Cup Final. Some good luck at last for the German....

FC Barcelona's triumph in Rome did shatter some firm belief held by English media and English clubs. The biggest has to be the "English Clubs" claim to be the most potent attacking force in the world. That belief was shattered rather brilliantly by one of the most attacking team in the history of the game.

First blood to Chelsea, in what promises to be a great rivalry this season, as they clinched the first silverware on offer this season by winning the Community Shield at Wembley today.
After a pulsating game, where United took the lead from a blockbuster Nani shot, Chelsea equalised in the second half through Carvahlo and took the lead through a controversial Lampard goal.

Cheating bastard.

From The Chelsea Blog: Three minutes later and the boos were ringing around Wembley although whether they were for the departing Mikel or Ballack coming on, it's hard to tell since neither of them have ever endeared themselves to our opponents. And Ballack was about to cement that fact as he first went to ground far too easily, earning a free-kick from the slightest brush of Evra's shoulder.

Sir Alex Ferguson was in no mood for charity after Chelsea struck the first psychological blow ahead of the new Premier League season with a 4-1 penalty shoot-out win at Wembley on Sunday.

The Scot was furious that referee Chris Foy failed to spot a blatant block by substitute Michael Ballack on Patrice Evra prior to Chelsea scoring a "deciding" second goal on 70 minutes.

That Deco is so dreamy
Frank Lampard may have been the leading point scorer after Tuesday's fixtures, but it was Deco (8.5M) who impressed me most today - completely out of nowhere.
He picked up an assist in the win over Hull, and a goal today in the win over Sunderland, but will he continue in a starting role?

Billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich will have seen a few diamonds in his time. Thanks to his latest managerial appointment at Chelsea, he is observing a new one, and on initial inspection, it may be to his liking.

In the spirit of pre-season hype, much has been written about Carlo Ancelotti's favoured diamond system.