...So therefore it is probably fiction! Rafa offered a pick and mix selection at Real Madrid!

A lot of stories in the Sunday media surrounding Liverpool have been about Xabi Alonso and an apparent offer of cash plus players for the want away Liverpool midfielder.

Having checked it out thoroughly, well we looked at it for a while, it does seem like this may well be the Everton midfielder's genuine Twitter account, which makes this doubly funny. Good to see a footballer with a sense of humour.

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Brazil stay at the top of this month's Fifa world rankings after winning the Confederations Cup in South Africa. Brazil are followed by Spain and the Netherlands England stay in 7th place. Germany and Italy swap places.
France are in 9th. Côte d'Ivoire are the highest African team in 18th.

Good player but probably not worth such a large valuation.

Steven Defour has joined Roma's Alberto Aquilani on the list of candidates to replace Xabi Alonso at the heart of Liverpool's midfield and has admitted his interest in an £18m Anfield move.
While Real Madrid have yet to match Liverpool's valuation on Alonso, Defour, 21, said: ‘I have an agreement with Standard Liege that I could go to a top club, and Liverpool fit the bill.

Here's a promo shot for Fulham FC's new Nike home kit for the 09/10 season. As you can see (you may have to squint), there are three player's shirts on show in the imaginary Nike dressing room: Andy Johnson, Danny Murphy and the best damned No.23 in the Premier League, aka Deuce Dempsey.

Brazil go back to the top of this month's Fifa world rankings after winning the Confederations Cup in South Africa. Brazil are followed by Spain and the Netherlands England are down one in 7th place.
France are in 9th. Côte d'Ivoire are the highest African team in 18th. Russia are 6th, with the USA in 12th.

Did Louis lose a pre-season bet? Or did he mean to dye his hair blonde and get the wrong colour? Or perhaps he's trying to look like even more of a dick in a box than team-mate Marouane Fellaini?...

I don't think so!

Emirates chief Arsene Wenger will then use the cash to pursue Fulham's Brede Hangeland, viewing the Norway star as a direct replacement for Toure.

The Cottagers are determined not to let their prized asset leave on the cheap and will demand all of the Toure money before they even consider selling him.

The final piece of the transfer jigsaw?

Manchester United are expected to step up their pursuit of Valencia winger David Silva this week.

Marca says with Silva back from his summer break, transfer talks will resume with Valencia over a move to England.

Real Madrid received little encouragement from both Valencia and Silva when they came knocking last month.

I know I normally take the weekend's off but I do think this news is noteworthy enough to get me to the laptop to type it out. Steve Goff reported earlier today that former New York Red Bull academy player and Rutgers star Dilly Duka is set to sign with Major League Soccer.

Instead of exploring options in Europe like he had hoped after he left Rutgers earlier this fall, Duke now is set to sign a four-year deal with the league.

Danny Califf set to return to Major League Soccer. (Getty Images)

One way to be sure a new club is good is to get some solid defense and Peter Nowak is trying to do just that. According to Soccer365.com Philadelphia Union is set to make a deal for the MLS player rights to US National Team defender Danny Califf.

Is De Guzman the Answer?

If you are a Reds fan by now you probably have heard the rumors of Julian De Guzman possibly landing here at TFC. Many are excited at the fact that this could be our biggest signing yet. Bet is De Guzman the answer to all our problems?

There is no doubt in his quality as a player.

Eddie Gaven and Emilio Renteria are leading the charge for the Crew. (Getty Images)

And just with one weekend the playoff race really cleared up in my eyes. I may end up being wrong about a team or two but for the most part I have a pretty good feeling about six of the clubs that should be in the playoffs this season.

Montreal and Ottawa just got company. In a move that is sure to raise the ire of some of those who have trouble with two Canadian teams in MLS much less one, how about the prospect of four or five? Bill Archer, please take your heart meds.
Courtesy of Canada.com:

EDMONTON — Major League Soccer isn't on the Edmonton horizon, but its rise to relative prominence elsewhere on the continent has piqued the interest of a local businessman with the kind of loot it takes to get into the game.

Jesus I am going to have nightmares about this for weeks. The quality of the acting from the former Sheffield Wednesday and England man is pretty good and is kind of Anthony Hopkins from Silence of the Lambs-esque. Scary!

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Do the Gunners really need another impressive creative attacking midfielder?

Arsenal are closing in on PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Afellay.

The People says Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has been tracking the 23-year-old PSV Eindhoven midfielder for the last year.

Some good news concerning Les Rosbif friend Lloyd Butler. Having been released by Geylang United in Singapore, the former non-league striker has turned up playing for the Prime League (reserve) side of crack team Singapore Armed Forces FC. It could represent a great move for young Butler, who, if he impresses, looks a good bet [.

And they were the prize not a forfeit! Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna has revealed his trademark blond braids are the result of a bet with his father. A teenage Sagna was desperate for a new look, but papa said he could only get the peroxide plats if he scored two goals against a team of adults. He [.

What he'd be if he weren't a footballer......a librarian?
Both Arsenal midfielders are fit and set to start against Blackburn on Sunday, but a choice between the two may depend on your management philosophy.
Fabregas (10.7) continues to pull the strings in the attack.

Wenger gives his reasons for not pursuing midfield pair.

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Wenger revealed why he had not bought either Xabi Alonso or Gareth Barry in the summer.

We knew that, but he has elaborated in an interview with the Toronto Star. The last straw, he says, was when MLS told him to go back to the sidelines instead of coaching from the boxes.
The comments are predictable. Some people never like their club's current coach, so those folks are happy for the switch under any circumstances.

It's another season and yet another kit provider for now English Premier League stalwarts Wigan Athletic FC. For the 2009/10 season, the Lactics will wear gear provided by English sportswear company Vandanel. Wigan Athletic have also announced that they have signed a new two year shirt sponsorship deal with on-line gaming and entertainment company 188-BET.

Arsene closes in on first signing of the summer.

The Rumour

Arsenal's deal for Ajax defender Thomas Vermaelen remains in place.

The Gunners have agreed a fee of £10 million with Ajax for the Belgium international.

Talk over the move has gone quiet in recent days, but Dutch sources say that is down to Vermaelen, who is currently away on holiday.

Determined customer appears on Rafa's radar

The Rumour

Liverpool are ahead of Fulham for Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen.

The Times says Liverpool have expressed an interest in signing Poulsen and Juventus will only consider selling the defensive midfield player, which ends Fulham's attempts to negotiate a loan deal.

GK- Howard
LB- Bocanegra
CB- Onyewu, DeMerit
RB- Spector
LM- Donovan
CM- Bradley, Clark
RM- Dempsey
F- Altidore, Ching
For the whole roster, get it here.
My thoughts...

• I think the above lineup is your safest bet for this away match.

Newcastle United Managing Director Derek Llambias was spotted sprinting, to use the word loosely, completely naked across St James' Park. Derek Llambias this is not the shot we wanted to show Apparently it was something he had promised owner Mike Ashley he would do, if he lost a bet over the form of Shola Ameobi, with [.

After a terrible start to the season, title number 19 seems as far away as ever, which is a depressing thought for every Liverpool fan. However, David Clarke believes that missing out on another title is small potatoes compared to the real problem the club must contend with this season.
Forget about Liverpool missing out on the title for a minute - has anybody considered the possibility the club could conceivably miss out on the top four?

I may be on vacation getting ready for my wedding but I did spare a second to do some game pickings. Yes the previews are going to be kept mighty short but thankfully we only have three games to deal with. I guess the league decided three games would be enough of a break during an international window of World Cup qualifiers.

For those of you who don't know what an accumulator is, let me explain it the best I can. An accumulator is a type of bet where you select 4 or more selections (if you choose 3, it's a treble and 2 is a double) and in order to win ALL of your selections must [...]

For those who love tradition you can rest a little easier tonight. When Vancouver enters Major League Soccer in 2011 they will come in as their normal self, as the Vancouver Whitecaps.

"We are fully behind continuing the Whitecaps name," said co-owner Jeff Mallett.

In fact they will keep the name in any league that they have a club in according to Mallett, even in the new breakaway league called the NASL.

Columbus Crew forward Alejandro Moreno, Seattle Sounders forward Sebastian LeToux and Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas were among two of the ten players chosen by the Philadelphia Union in Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft.

Here is the list:

Brad Knighton, David Myrie, Shavar Thomas, Jordan Harvey, Shea Salinas, Stefani Miglioranzi, Andrew Jacobson, Nick Zimmerman, Alejandro Moreno, Sebastien LeToux

Surprising omissions?

A group of women in Milan have made a €20,000 bet on which one of them will bed sexy football star David Beckham - and his wife Victoria will not enjoy the odds on that one! The wealthy ladies have started the betting pool to try and nab the sports hunk , who is in the Italian city on loan at AC Milan.

JJK have had an encouraging start to their first ever campaign in the Finnish top flight. They have already managed to limit TPS, Haka and HJK to draws, and nothing suggests that they could not cause another upset against Honka, especially as Honka have had a poor start to this year's Veikkausliiga.

Did you know Josep Guardiola has Mars in Scorpio, conjunct Jupiter?
Up-to-date on the fact that Mars was in Aries when Alex Ferguson was born?
Sir Alex has a lot of Capricorn in his chart, did you know? Ferguson currently has Saturn conjunct the north node of his moon. Both the charts of Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson have a lot of Jupiter and Mars activity in them at the moment.

Spain stay atop of this month's Fifa world rankings followed by the Netherlands and Germany, who change places. England are up in 6th place.
France are in 10th. Cameroon are the highest African team in 21st. Russia are 9th, with the USA in 14th.
1 Spain
2 Germany
3 Netherlands
4 Italy
5 Brazil
6 England
7 Argentina
8 Croatia
9 Russia
10 France
11 Portugal
12 Turkey
13 Paraguay
14 USA
15 Czech Republic
16 Switzerland
17 Greece
17 Uruguay
19 Ukraine
20 Serbia
Full world rankings
Last month's Fifa World Rankings
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Congratulations to United, who clinched a record-equalling 18th league title at Old Trafford yesterday.

A 0-0 stalemate perhaps wasn't quite what they had in mind in terms of clinching it in style; but it didn't matter. A point against Arsenal was enough. United champions for the third successive season.

After an excellent performance against Canada on Memorial Day, playing under the adverse conditions of a hard turf field and 10,000 hostile Canadian fans (ok, they weren't hostile. Canadians are actually really nice folks), the U.S. players have returned to their WPS clubs, where they shall stay until mid-July when the team regroups for another two matches against Canada.

Let's just dive right into this feet first. After the debacle Wednesday night at Saprissa, Saturday's CONCACAF qualifier against Honduras in Chicago is suddenly the most important game this month. Stumble here and quickly the sure-bet for qualification for South Africa 2010 becomes a lot murkier.Judging by the comments and reactions to the 3-1 shit-stomping in Costa Rica, the crux of the problems

Inside joke? Lost a bet?
There has to be some explanation...

Gothenburg: Finland v Spain
Halmstad: England v Germany
The second semi-finalist will be decided today, with England already through to the knock-out stages. After a two-day hiatus to coincide with Sweden's national midsummer holiday, the football begins again in earnest.