Today's article is a great piece simply about what it means to be a Liverpool fan. As most Liverpool fans know, supporting your club is not just a hobby, it's a part of your life. The article is written by Senaly and you can follow her on Twitter @sena16suarez. Being a Liverpool Fan Like most Kopites, over the last few weeks, I've been subjected to endless banter and mockery from Mancs who can'

I've neglected my little space on the Intertubes here, largely because of Twitter. The instant gratification and dialogue is a lot more satisfying than having to seed this sucker on other blogs. I love writing here, but my Twitter feed http://twitter.com/#!/starting_eleven is a lot more fun. Sorry peeps.

Setting expectations, time constraints prevent our customary official preview format.

The USA plays Slovenia Tuesday in a rematch of the US World Cup group stage second match. No doubt there will be review of that match in depth across the US soccer media outlets. Here's one piece from us back then.

Jermain to say I'm a Gunner? Popstar Rihanna enjoyed a bit of north London banter ahead of her performance at the O2 this week when she met Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe backstage. She told Defoe: "Oh, Jermain, you play for Arsenal, yeah? I've heard all about you. The Mirror reports an awkward silence followed, broken [.

Carling Cup hero Craig Bellamy is a big fan of veteran Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, and he's thankful to be playing alongside him during his second spell at Anfield.
Bellamy is never short of an opinion or two, both on and off the field, and he appreciates Carra's honest, no-nonsense approach to life at Anfield:
"Carra's been there for a lot of years and he's big figure at the club.

With currently 19 teams in its league, MLS is more than halfway to 36. No other major team sports league in the U.S. has more than 32 teams. The NHL, NBA and MLB leagues have 30 and the NFL has 32 teams. What would be the sense in MLS doubling its size?
It is the perfect sense. It gives MLS strategic positioning for all areas of the U.

It's that time of the week you've all been waiting for - Diary of an MLS Convert is back, and the converts have, as usual, got plenty to say this week. Topics covered by supporters of Eastern teams include doing just enough, a newconvert still looking for a first win, how transfers differ between Premiership and MLS, meeting a former MLS head coach (and current director of player development), a replacement DC United convert and Danny Dichio's legendary status in North America.

It's that time of the week you've all been waiting for - Diary of an MLS Convert is back, and the convert have, as usual, got plenty to say this week. Topics covered by supporters of Western teams include players stepping up in Utah, social networking in soccer, tremendous goals from the opposition, excuses from losing teams and a lengthy streak falling to the rock-bottom side.

Has anyone else seen Fever Pitch? You know the scene when the couple are lying in bed and she's trying to plan a holiday, but he won't. And she gets angry because the reason he won't is that it might clash with an Arsenal game...

I realised this morning: that is me!
I've got loads planned for July.

Not enough people these days can get down to the ground of their football team on matchday and go watch a match. In fact, I bet a lot of readers will not have gone to more than a handful of matches, if any, in their entire lives to support their club. I think this is a great shame as there is nothing like experiencing your team snatch a winner in the 90th minute or the constant sing song and banter with the away supporters.

Welcome to NUFC 'Blog's Wigan Athletic v Newcastle United match banter. Apologies in advance if it isn't up to the usual standards, however I am in the latter stages of a fairly horrible 'flu. However, for a more in depth preview of the game, please check out Toonsy's excellent match preview. He will be at [.

Morning to you, the end of another working week. Unless you've got to do blogging at the weekend which, I suspect, many of you don't. Not that I'm complaining. The internet is a 24 hour truck stop and I'm merely the chunky-legged waitress who has seen it all. Watch where you put your hands, mister, and don't complain that there's ash in your soup.

By Ollie Irish

Keys: "Somebody better get down there and explain offside to her."
Gray: "Can you believe that? A female linesman. Women don't know the offside rule."
Keys: "'Course they don't.

Photograph: TalkSport

Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys conducted an interview on live radio Wednesday to say sorry and to share his side of the story regarding the controversy that erupted Saturday and continues to this day regarding comments he made about female assistant referee Sian Massey and West Ham United vice-chairwoman Karren Brady.

An atmosphere of ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,' isn't an atmosphere of change or tolerance. Unseen, unheard, unsaid but still there and right or wrong, where will it go?
Former Sky Sports football analyst Andy Gray may sit (unemployed) and wonder why exactly he has lost his job.

According to Greg O'Keefe at the Liverpool Echo, Everton boss David Moyes was insulted by the offers made by Tottenham for defender Phil Neville. Moyes said,

"We have had an offer from Tottenham of £250,000 which we received on Saturday afternoon.

Hello, good afternoon and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature. Today, sees us pitting our wits against the title challengers of Arsenal. A daunting prospect, however we did of course manage to scrape a 1-0 victory at their place in our last game against the Gunners. Of course though, we also had a certain [.

It's that time of the week you've all been waiting for - Diary of an MLS Convert is back, and the converts have, as usual, got plenty to say this week. Topics covered by supporters of Eastern teams include receiving club merchandise, comparing MLS to Rushden & Diamonds, a whole lot of nothing about DC, starting work as a game finishes, and MLS salaries.

It's that time of the week you've all been waiting for - Diary of an MLS Convert is back, and the convert have, as usual, got plenty to say this week. Topics covered by supporters of Western teams include the sack race, needing a break from the team, marketing in soccer, gushing over a big win, questions about MLS transfer policy and being the second best team in MLS right now.

Image via bellazon

Roll up, roll up, ladies and gents! It's Friday once again, and we are proud to announce that Guti has donned a spectacular comedy ensemble of beige suit accessorised with green in order to act as compere for our revered Good Week/Bad Week post. Don't cha just love the effort he's gone to, just to amuse us ?

It's that time of the week you've all been waiting for - Diary of an MLS Convert is back, and the convert have, as usual, got plenty to say this week. Topics covered by supporters of Western teams include criticism over pitch dimensions, expansion opponents 'the best medicine' for poor form, a local derby in the Reserve League, England adopting features from MLS, a debutant covering Colorado Rapids and the hot streak of a certain Texas side.

Steven Gerrard had taken the supporters' coach down to Villa Park and was settling into his seat in the away end by the time the double takes from disbelieving fans gave way to the inevitable bouts of mickey-taking.
"There was a bit of banter flying around," said Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

It's that time of the week you've all been waiting for - Diary of an MLS Convert is back, and the converts have, as usual, got plenty to say this week. Topics covered by supporters of Eastern teams include Rushden & Diamonds related misery, shaved heads for charity, MLS transfers causing headaches, the Yankees vs Red Sox of soccer and things not going to plan.

Kenny Dalglish's last public act on Liverpool's tour of Asia was to engage in some public banter with Phil Thompson in front of 38,000 fans who had come to see his players engage in a little light training.
It proved that, however firm their place is in Anfield's pantheon, Thompson and Dalglish have a limited future as a comedy double act, although the reception they received would have flattered Morecambe and Wise.

Back door entrance, that is Leicester forward Paul Gallagher made one of the more spectacular footballing Twitter debuts when he signed up to the social networking site last night. He announced his arrival with a typically bland footballer proclamation of banter to follow: "Hello, Im just getting to grips with this twitter lark, thanks for [.

Jordan Henderson has admitted he is still getting used to Liverpool after his big-money move to Anfield.
The 21-year-old was signed earlier this summer by the Reds as Kenny Dalglish continues his rebuilding process in his second stint as manager.
Henderson joined his team-mates for pre-season training late after featuring in the Under-21 European Championship for England.

As a burly striker for clubs such as Arsenal, West Ham United and Celtic, John Hartson used to put his head where most players wouldn't dare put their feet.

In retirement, he stood face-to-face with death during a life threatening battle with cancer and still came out on top.

But nothing would have prepared the Welsh dragon for the sickening abuse he has received on social networking site Twitter for visiting an 11 year-old terminally ill cancer sufferer all because of his links with Celtic.

It's late and I should be off to bed. I'm going down to the Isle of Wight tomorrow with my boys and we've got an early-ish start. But if I don't post now it's going to be another week missed and for now I'm keen to maintain the one post a week schedule. Also one of my favourite former Fulham players is in the news this week.

By Chris Wright

When banter turns to herbicide.

Police are appealing for witnesses after vandals broke into Oxford United's Kassam Stadium at the weekend and burnt 'STFC' the initials of local rivals Swindon Town rather shoddily into the pitch with a 'substance capable of staining the grass' apologies for using that technical jargon) ahead of Saturday's derby game between the two sides.

Hello and welcome to NUFC Blog's match banter feature for the one we all wait for, though not for long this season. I am of course referring to our twice yearly derby game with Sunderland. With Sunderland having home advantage this time at the Stadium of Blight, they will be far more accustomed to playing [.

Image Credit: Davor Pongračić/Cropix. Tip & translation help via Roza. Cheers girl!

Pause for a moment, Kickettes, and feast your eyes on Niko Kranjčar's reaction to our Croatian correspondent's unscheduled entry** (via the window, on a rope, blind with lust or possibly the previous evening's make-up) into Wednesday's Adidas Predator launch in Zagreb.

Warning: Man United fans who don't want to know the score please look away now! :-P
After what has been surely already been nothing short of an incredible week in the life of all the Manchester City fans out there following your superb 1-6 win at Old Trafford on Sunday, as we move towards day 3 of the working week you may now sadly be running short of new and exciting ways of ribbing all your United supporting work colleagues - now that all the viral email jokes have already done the rounds.

Good evening and welcome to the match banter thread for tonight's Carling Cup tie between Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. A place in the last 8 beckons for one of us and I'd quite fancy our chances at this one if it wasn't for a strange sense of foreboding I'm feeling about the game. As [...]

Good evening Geordies, and welcome to out regular "match banter" feature for the Magpies' away trip to the Brittania Studium in Stoke. This should be a tricky trip to the Potteries, with no quarter given and no prisoners taken. Indeed, Newcastle have yet to beat Stoke in the Premiership in four previous attempts, and if [.

Hello, good evening, and welcome to NUFC 'Blog's 'match banter' for this evening's game against West Ham at St James's Park. In our away fixture earlier in the season we beat The Hammers 2-1, however they certinly seem to be a much improved side of late, managing two wins and a draw in their last [.

Above, NSCAA coaches watch a high school boy's team for our Match Analysis session on Tuesday night.

The times are a-changin'

Even though we've been crazy busy at the NSCAA Premier Diploma course in Ft. Lauderdale, it's important to note that there have been some developments in women's soccer in the last two days.

Good afternoon lads and lassies, welcome to the match banter thread for Newcastle United's third round FA Cup tie against Stevenage. League Two's Stevenage have had a decent start to their first season of league football, securing a mid-table position and having only lost twice at home this season. But the Toon are also amidst [.

As an Englishman in... Sydney, it's become a frustrating experience to merely watch a game of our favourite game. Firstly, it's a struggle to get access to a decent venue. You not only have to contend with sub-standard appreciation of the true global game, but also the nonsensical "footy" sometimes trumping the commentary and thus you watch with a Rugby soundtrack.

By Geoff Reid

First of all, apologies for being away a while. Busy time of year for all of us the last few weeks and life gets in the way. This time of year the game domestically really starts to get exciting with the MLS Combine, followed by the Superdraft and NSCAA Convention before clubs head into their respective pre-seasons.

After Manchester United fans mocked Manchester City's new signing, Edin Dzeko, for attempting to wind up the reds in Manchester by claiming the city was blue (arf!), we were left to wonder whether our Chicharito had become small time too when this picture started doing the rounds online.

But alas, it turns out this was just a return to the good ol' days, when fans got involved in the banter, long before football clubs forked out £1000s on advertising boards in attempt to wind up opposition fans.