Two weeks or so ago, I started to write a piece on the new New York Cosmos and their "efforts" to this point in their nascent existence. In light of the release of their Umbro line of gear (which I posted about at the time) and because so much of what they've done to this point seemed...shady, I intended to tear the Cosmos apart as a fake team scamming the world in a bid to sell jerseys.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. On the eve of departing for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the U.

It's not often that Arsene Wenger comes out and says we were closer to losing than winning. It's even rarer when he says that we had technical problems. To be fair, Le Boss got is spot on and deserves some credit for saying a lot in few words. It's a different matter that these problems should have been foreseen and it's more down to him than anyone else that we played the way we did.

Turns out Nigel De Jong's studs-up challenge was as bad as it looked on TV. They are estimating the fracture in Holden's right fibula will take six weeks to heal. Fortunately if this time table holds true, of course this would allow Holden to finish the season with Bolton and regain fitness before the World Cup.

I'm not sure what many people understood from yesterday's article. So many felt that I was trying to claim Arsenal are far superior to Barcelona. Some tried to comment that almost every Barca player is better than his Arsenal counterpart.

Le Boss conveyed my thoughts with the perfect words in his press conference,

I do not deny their quality, because Barcelona have an exceptional team but we are an exceptional team as well.

How quick things change in the world of football? Last December every Barca fan were complaining about how disappointed were they with the performance of the little Bojan Krkic; now they can't stop praising him. Indeed Bojan Krkic has been in a tremendous goal scoring streak and have impressed everyone including his manager.

The World Cup is underway and amid vuvuzela's, goalkeeping mistakes and the choice of World Cup ball, there has been plenty to talk about during this tournament so far.

In the first week the talking points/questions from this World Cup have been:

Is This World Cup is Boring?

Ever since Robb Heineman announced that the Wizards had made an offer for Icelandic forward, Eidur Gudjohnsen the question many Wizards fans have asked how likely it is that Gudjohnsen would actually come to KC. When Heineman made the announcement he said the Wizards were going up against Tottenham for Gudjohnsen's signature.

If you believe The Don.
At the Thierry Henry hubbub on Thursday, Garber reportedly said that Donovan is a "real soccer hero" and that the league can't do without him.
I can hear you gasping in horror, those of you hoping to see Donovan plying his trade abroad in the near future; there's an overriding sense, just as there was last year around this time, that MLS "owes" it to Donovan to let him leave.

Milan striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will join Liverpool, with Ryan Babel heading the other way as part of the deal, claims Il Corriere dello Sport.
On Tuesday, Huntelaar was reportedly in Manchester, leading to speculation talks with either Manchester City or Manchester United are impending.
However, the latest reports from Italy suggest he could join Liverpool if Fernando Torres leaves.

The huge gulf in class between the two teams was eventually exposed as Arsenal won the game convincingly, albeit with a few hiccups along the way. For a while it looked much closer than it should have been, mainly due to the endeavour of the hosts, good goalkeeping, and profligacy of the Arsenal attackers.

By Chris Wright

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has admitted that it was his side's repeated failure to 'rise to the occassion' that saw them lose out 1-0 to Manchester United last Monday:

"The difference on the night (against United) was that we were scared of losing but they were not scared of winning.

If you didn't understand Arsene Wenger's faith in this team, watch this game again and again.

If you didn't believe the earlier games between the sides were close and the first goal made a big difference, watch this game again.

I don't want to get too excited over one win. That's not in my nature.

Prior to the draw England were already among the favourites, on the back of a solid qualifying campaign. A seemingly favourable draw has served to strengthen that belief and most bookies have them as third favourites at around 11/2. Under Fabio Capello England have become an efficient unit and he appears .

Steven Gerrard has delivered a hard-hitting assessment of Liverpool's disappointing season, insisting he and his team-mates must take responsibility.
The Reds' campaign can already be described as a failure following their exit from the UEFA Champions League at the group stages.
Rafa Benitez's team are also in a fierce battle to qualify for next season's European Cup as ahead of Sunday's crucial meeting with fourth-placed Tottenham they trail Spurs by four points.

"For those who know their Fire history they remember a guy like [former head coach] Bob Bradley based on his integrity and the type of ethical guy that he is. When I sat down with Carlos the first thing i thought about was Bob Bradley. Carlos is someone who is very honorable, who is going to come here and work very hard and get results.

After promising us a top four finish is there really any reason to call for an Anfield sacking?

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Like all Liverpool fans, I have been bitterly disappointed by this season.

In my preview of this game I mentioned our Carling Cup defeat against a weakened Manchester United side. That was a match that was there for the taking, but for our lack of belief and any sort of gumption.

Last night against Liverpool we saw another insipid performance from Spurs. Let's face it, our side are flat-track bullies.

Porto 2 (Fabianski og 11, Falcao 52) Arsenal 1 (Campbell 18)
(Champions League Round of 16, First Leg)

You will be hard pushed to find a game in which a team gives away a pair of goals as soft as those we handed Porto tonight. At Champions League level, they are the sort of gifts that condemn you to a swift exit, but thanks to an otherwise controlled display and a Porto side lacking in star quality, the tie remains firmly in the balance.

Well what a difference a week can make in football!. Just over a week ago before Chelsea made the trip to the South Coast things we looking bleak. We had just drawn 1-1 away at Blackburn and lost ground on United as we sat 4 points behind them in the Premier League.
Things didn't look good at all.

Ryan Giggs has today talked down any possibility that Manchester United are suffering from lacking confidence following back to back defeats against Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

"Losing successive matches does not shake the belief of the players," said Giggs. "When you look around the dressing room and see the players around you, the belief has to be there because there is so much talent.

Jack Rodwell has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United this summer, however, after signing a new 5 year deal with Everton it looks as though Sir Alex Ferguson will be made to wait if he wants to sign the Southport born teenager.

Rodwell has obviously been told he won't get much playing time at United so is keen to keep developing at Everton, although the player concedes it's an honour to be linked with us.

There's something about the World Cup which extracts the casual fans from the woodwork. Some attribute it to love, others attribute it to the overall ceremony. But what is it that brings out the nutjobs? Much of it is a who's who of those that need to be removed from the gene pool.

Take, for example, England: the chances that you walk into a pub and are served by a female named Wayne Rooney are quite high.

World Cup Group H Spain You get a sense Spain realize just how good they are. Not suggesting that they are arrogant but there is a belief that has been lacking from previous Spanish squads. Spain are in fact renowned as World Cup under ...

No list of notes and detractions today. I'm extremely proud of every USA player. Especially Jonathan Bornstein, who had one of the best games I've seen him play in a US jersey. It was a tense affair, but the USA continued to be the team with the best dramatic timing in this year's tournament.

A never-say-die attitude by the United States national team earned them a win over Algeria in miraculous fashion and for striker Jozy Altidore, it all has to do with the belief they have in each other.

Arsene Wenger just gave his pre-Emirates Cup press conference. But as longtime Arsenal fans know well, Wenger oftentimes doesn't really say what he actually means. He'll simply blather on about refusing to pay too much money, and how the team just needs "belief" or some such thing to win, and refuse to give a direct answer to 95% of questions.

The collective psyche of American soccer fascinates me. While it would be unfair to assign a singular outlook to a group constituted of millions of individuals, there are identifiable threads that run through the community. We're confident in our passion and understanding of the game, so much so that the belittling done by mainstream media here ("the five people that care about soccer") and disdainful media abroad ("Americans are football rubes") drives us insane.

With Columbus coming up short (or getting robbed, depending on your perspective), Real Salt Lake is the next MLS club with a shot at breaking the Mexican O-fer when they face Cruz Azul in Mexico City tonight (8PM ET, FSC). After being burned so many times, it would be foolish to feel confident about their chances; nevertheless, RSL is carrying the MLS banner into Estadio Azul, and it's important that they put in a strong showing.

"When I was a teenager I had sworn off any belief I had in the existence of God," explained Glen Harzewski, founder and president of the Chicago Fire Atheists Supporters Club, "but when I heard the rumor that the president of the El Salvador FA was hoping to lure the Fire's head coach coach, Carlos de los Cobos, back to his old job it was as if the heavens had opened up and God himself reached out to me and said, 'I am here.

A moment's lack of concentration after ninety four minutes and forty seconds in a game that was supposed to last ninety four minutes cost us two precious points.

Perhaps it is more accurate to say that not only was it the poor time keeping by referee Phil Dowd but also the stupidity of Alex Song and an atrocious penalty miss by Tomas Rosicky that combined to deny us two points that could end up making the difference between winning the league and coming second.

Date: 3rd April 1996

Let me set the scene. Newcastle United had been having their best season in decades. But after blowing a huge lead at the top of the Premiership, they know they that must bring back three points from Merseyside to stay in compeition with Alex Ferguson's (Not a sir back then) Manchester United.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has praised goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski following his side's Champions League victory. The Pole had another chance to shine as he stood in for the injured Manuel Almunia against Partizan Belgrade, and he put in an impeccable performance as the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners.

Whenever there's a football discussion going on and someone asks you who you support and you tell them Manchester United then how often do you come up with taunts of being a 'glory hunter'? Quite often I suppose. There's a common belief among many people that most people in Manchester are Manchester City supporters (which isn't true) and all foreign United supporters are glory hunters.

A tremendous attribute in any person, as well as a member of a team, is the idea of having humility.
Humility, dictionary definitions say, is marked by modesty, meekness, diffidence and an unassuming attitude. Dictionaries also contrast humility with arrogance and pride. Yet we live in a culture where pride is celebrated, arrogance is almost a perquisite to be taken seriously in business, politics and sports.

A trip scheduling mess up meant that when Cesc was having his pretty-weak-by-his-standards penalty saved, I was sitting on a train headed home, bored, tired and nervous beyond belief. I had to rely on texts from friends which is never an ideal situation. When my cell phone's reception was immaculate, the friends never messaged and when they did manage to send a hurriedly typed out text, a lack of service providers ensured I received its contents a good half an hour later.

Do the players believe?After our superb win on Tuesday, BBC Fivelive commentator and presenter, Darren Fletcher, made the following statement:

"I truly believe that after tonight's amazing win against the European Champions, these Tottenham Hotspur players can begin to believe that they are good enough, not only in progressing further in the Champions League, but also believing in themselves so as to take this form into their Premier League fixtures.

One of the things that I love about writing this blog is that it almost acts like a kind of forum, we can debate, disagree and agree with each other all we want. The best thing though, is that it is very unlikely everyone will agree on everything. I reckon this blog is going to cause a massive split in my readership.

Newcastle

Position: 9th, 4-2-4 (14 points, +5 goal differential)

Away Form: 2-1-2 (-2 goal differential)

Recent Form: LLDWW

Last Meeting: Newcastle 0 Arsenal 4 (October 27, 2010)

Sometimes going into an Arsenal match, I just get a feeling as to how it's going to go.

'Arry's secret: no speeches on tactics and an empty clipboard

Spurs star Rafael Van Der Vaart has lifted the lid on the extent of Harry Redknapp's tactical nous. And apparently there is not a great deal of it.

The Dutchman said: "Harry is a very special man, that's why I already feel at home at Spurs.