Jan Vertonghen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Arsenal Enter Powell Chase

Arsenal are vying for the signature of Crewe Alexandra starlet Nick Powell, who is also attracting interest from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

I would like to go on record to state that Salomon Kalou is one of the most frustrating players I have watched over the past few years and I am sure some of you will agree with me.
The reason I get so frustrated? It's because he has everything in his locker, he has the skills, the technique, the pace, an eye for a pass and an eye for a goal but one minute he's great and the next he isn't!

Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

LANDOVER, Md. -- Herculez Gomez is not unfamiliar with taking advantage of opportunities, and it appears he has made the most of a chance once again.

In his first start with the U.

By Stuart Watson

Believe it or not there was a time when there were only one or two live football matches shown per season on television. Even when I started following football properly in the very late 80s, you would only get a maximum one game per week on television in the form of ITV's ‘The Big Match,' with Elton Welsby (remember him?

The world saw the genius of Leo Messi flower under Guardiola

And so the coach of the Blaugrana, the one who won in his four years every title that needed to be won, appears in his final match, the Copa Del Rey finals against Athletic Bilbao today. Josep "Pep" Guardiola comes full circle against a team whose 4-1 defeat gave Barcelona a triple crown and capped an extra-ordinary coaching debut for the 37 year old.

I am not sure how many of you actually read this post but for those of you who do I am sorry it hasn't been up the last few games. The almost three months after spring break until the end of the school year are the busiest time of the year for me. Anyways here are all the little tid-bits about yesterday's games.

West Ham were promoted back to the Premier League at their first attempt yesterday, when they beat Blackpool 2-1 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Sam Allardyce at Wembley yesterday But Blackpool were the better side, and played the class football, stroking the ball around the field. However, you cannot expect to win big games [.

'Some players don't understand when to raise their game, Didier does. He can really take it to the level needed. Emotionally, you see the difference, the step up. You see the look in his eyes. Quite literally, he changes, and you know he's ready for it.'

Eddie Newton.

Welcome to your Champions League Final Bumper Post, brought to you by the squinting Fernando Torres and his post-flight mop. He brought just enough clothes for the post-match dinner in Munich, so it looks like that epic house rave and beer fountain party Jupp Heynckes has planned will only be attended by Mario Gomez (2 more goals, tipo, "zwei tore!

Seattle and Vancouver headline a busy Week 11. (Getty Images)

Two games down, a bunch more to go as Week 11 rolls on.

Nine games headlined by two big rivalry games in Vancouver and in LA certainly a busy weekend in MLS. I have a busy day ahead of me here so I'll cut out the big intro and get to the meat of the post here, the items I'll be focusing in on this weekend.

Saturday night, on that pitch in Munich and without John Terry there the focus of leadership will turn to Frank Lampard. Chelsea have plenty of leaders on the pitch but there will be only one wearing the armband, one voice above everyone else's the man the others will look to.
You see, Lampard has been there and done that as far as his experience goes and once again on the biggest stage of all, he has a chance to put right the wrongs of Moscow.

I have to admit that I naively raised an eyebrow yesterday when Roberto Mancini, chasing a much-needed win at Newcastle, took off attacking midfielder Samir Nasri for defensive midfielder Nigel De Jong. In the end this turned out to be the masterstroke that won City the game, and possibly the league title.

With an impressive knack of scoring crucial goals in big games, Liverpool's flying Dutchman has trained his sights on his own cup final hat-trick when his team take on Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.

Kuyt has scored in a Champions League final, Carling Cup final and now he is hoping to feature at Wembley this weekend to repeat the trick in Saturday's FA Cup final.

2012 Fa Cup Final: Chelsea v Liverpool Talking Points - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Chelsea have quite a lot to look forward to in May. The thing undoubtedly at the top of their list is their 2012 Champions League final showdown with Bayern Munich, but they're also pushing for a fourth-place Premier League finish (although that may be out of their hands now after losing to two splendid goals by Cisse on Wendesday night.

Image: Sportsfile.com.

Irish players will be free to enjoy some sexy time with their wives, mistresses (or perhaps both) during this summer's European Championships in Poland, Giovanni Trapattoni recently revealed.

While some football managers impose bans on rousing rompfests before big games, the Republic of Ireland NT manager doesn't see the harm in allowing his squad extracurricular sexual activity time as long as players' pleasing sessions occur before the sun goes down.

I have written a post that went out a few hours ago stating that last night was the kick up the arse that Chelsea needed ahead of two big cup finals coming up because being honest, and I am sure I am not the only Chelsea fan in doing so, I got a little bit ahead of myself with our recent success in big games.

Derby day is finally here, this weekend by far has been the blah-est of the season. After watching the Stoke vs. Arsenal game I felt watching ten golf was a better option. Then I saw this 50 yard screamer by Mr. I won't shake your hand and the following day a saw a lady boy come back to form. These were supposed to be good footballing moments for the neutral but not for me.

With news of Newcastle losing away at Wigan yesterday, Chelsea have a massive chance to take three points and close the gap to a point with a victory at the Bridge this afternoon. However, with a defensive crisis today it will not be easy.
QPR come to the Bridge looking to three points as they look to establish their Premier League status.

Jamie Carragher has warned his Liverpool team-mates they will need to play for their FA Cup final places in the league fixtures against Norwich and Fulham.
The club have won the Carling Cup and beaten fierce rivals Everton to reach the Wembley showpiece against Chelsea.
But despite their heroics in cup competitions, Liverpool have one just once in the last six league games and have now slipped to eighth, two points behind their neighbours with four games left.

The Liverpool vice-captain reckons the competition for FA Cup final places will help turn around the Reds poor form as the Barclays Premier League goes into the final few games,but Carragher insists that gathering three points, in order to push the Reds closer to their Merseyside neighbors in the Barclays Premier League, must remain the priority.

The stage is set. Barcelona need to win by a two goal margin to qualify for the Champions League final, Chelsea will do with a draw or scoring one less than Barcelona in a defeat.

Chelsea have had a perfect week, winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge and then nullifying Arsenal at the Emirates despite playing their second-team.

Forget all the comments being made and focus on Didier Drogba and his "diving" or so they call it at Stamford Bridge ahead of tonight's game. Make no mistake. Barcelona are scared of Drogba and are more than worried about the big man.
He has proven over the years to be the scourge of Barcelona with important goals against them.

Booya! A big week for WVH AC in the MLS Fantasy Manager. A big 85 points on the week, thanks to big games from guys like Sebastien Le Toux, Nick DeLeon and Maicon Santos.

Now things get tricky for this coming week. Sporting KC is off so that means either I need to make three moves or get real craft with other moves around the pitch.

I think it would be fair to say if you were to ask most people to people look back at what has set this Premier League season apart from others the answer you'd get would have to be: high-scoring games. For a slightly more pessimistic view: bad defending.

It is in the big games where this has been most noticeable.

TweetBarcelona midfielder Xavi has warned Chelsea that they face a wounded and determined side at the Camp Nou come Tuesday night. The Catalans are in somewhat of a mini-crisis after losing two big games in succession including Saturday's La Liga title showdown at home to Real Madrid which Pep Guardiola's men lost 2-1.

There was a lot to like about Sunday's Grand Final. And here's a few that had me thinking.
1. The number of young Aussies getting football experience in front of over 50,000 fans in a pressure cooker.
For the Roar - Luke Bratton took centre stage no less - Nick Fitzgerald lit up the flank and James Meyer had a run, while the Glory's Josh Risdon was tested all afternoon and Scott Neville came on late.

Remember when you were small (or in Chary's case, smaller)? Morning break out came the football, lunch break, out came the football, after school out came the football. At weekends, a game Saturday morning and another in the afternoon, often playing until dark in summer.

Young Big Raddy slots one past a concerned Kelsey

What is the relevance of my opening paragraph?

Remember when you were small (or in Chary's case, smaller)? Morning break out came the football, lunch break, out came the football, after school out came the football. At weekends, a game Saturday morning and another in the afternoon, often playing until dark in summer.

Young Big Raddy slots one past a concerned Kelsey

What is the relevance of my opening paragraph?

In his Friday press conference, Roberto Mancini spoke out about the refereeing bias that has accompanied Manchester United's tainted title triumph.
"... after some of the situations I saw in the last three or four weeks, I think it is really difficult for us... The rules are not the same for everyone.

Dirk Kuyt is hopeful he can continue his knack of scoring in the big games when Liverpool take on Chelsea in next month's FA Cup final.
The Dutchman has already found the net in both finals the club have been involved in during his time at Anfield.
He scored late on in the 2007 UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan in Athens, although it wasn't enough to prevent the Italians gaining revenge for their defeat in Istanbul two years previously.

On this week's predictions we focus on the Champions League semi-final second legs and feature big games in England and Spain where Barcelona and Real play out another important clásico.

The wonder and appeal of the FA Cup got the help of derby crowds over the weekend. The luck of the draw had Liverpool-based teams playing each other on Saturday and London clubs facing off on Sunday. That guaranteed the kind of atmosphere associated with big clubs in big games. What the oldest knockout tournament in the world didn't get was the kind of quality expected at this stage of the tournament.

Here we go people, the start of four massive games in the space of two weeks with tonight's trip to one of our favourite places in recent times to take on a deflated and off form Tottenham at Wembley.
If this game was happening two months ago I would have told you that we would of had no chance to win this.

Robbie Di Matteo has spoken to the media ahead of tonight's FA CUP semi final against Spurs and has been keen to reiterate the big game experience the Chelsea players have and the fact that they love playing at Wembley.
Chelsea have won five games out of five at Wembley in the FA CUP and will be looking to continue that record today.

Former New England Revolution manager Steve Nicol remembers his playing days with Liverpool and the big games against Everton.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea, Sunday 15th April, Wembley Stadium, 6pm kick off, ITV1

THFC1882 asks Kenny Palmer for his preview and thoughts on the match that could dictate the rest of Tottenham's season.

To misquote the lyrics of Ossie's dream Spurs are on their way to Wembley their knees have gone all trembley, could be referring to the teams recent performances in a dreadful run of 1 win in 8 as they come into Sunday's pivotal game.

Time to sift through the aftermath of that game between Dortmund and Bayern. And since the other 16 teams in the league decided to do nothing particularly unexpected, it'll be in a bit more detail.

The title hasn't been decided yet, but the near future.
Dortmund have apparently been handed the title already by pretty much everybody, who has anything to say about football.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Critics have complained that Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't perform in the big games. That when his team really needs him, that he shrinks from the pressure.

Well tonight's Real Madrid's season was about to collapse and Ronaldo took the team on his back and led them to a huge in the Madrid derby against Atletico.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Critics have complained that Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't perform in the big games. That when his team really needs him, that he shrinks from the pressure.

Well tonight's Real Madrid's season was about to collapse and Ronaldo took the team on his back and led them to a huge in the Madrid derby against Atletico.

Yossi Benayoun probably hasn't done enough to achieve cult status. His imprint is far larger amongst the squad than the fans. When he scored the winner against Aston Villa in December the euphoria in the celebrations said it all. It wasn't just that it was such a crucial goal, it was scored by a popular player in the team and one of the signings who did much to improve morale amongst the group.