I ask myself that question two or three times a year and rarely come up with a discernible answer. Is it the language, the culture, the food? Maybe it's the pop music? Whatever the answer is, I wish it wasn't so. I wish I could see English footballers deputizing or leading an attack for Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Roma, Lyon, Bordeaux or any of the clubs in the fantastic Bundesliga.

By FRANCO PANIZO

As is the case with every weekend, there were hoards of quality goals, but Cristiano Ronaldo's free kick in Real Madrid's 6-2 victory vs. Villarreal was arguably the best.

Ronaldo opened the scoring in the eight-goal affair, blasting a precise free kick into the top corner of Diego Lopez's net from 25 yards out.

By Chris Wright

£50 million dump. Here's the round up...

Rumour No. 1: Manchester City are preparing to jettison £50 million worth of players in the summer as manager Roberto Mancini begins a total rebuild of his squad.

Emmanuel Adebayor, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Stephen Ireland will all face the boot at Eastlands, and the Italian boss is planning to kick start his overhaul with a £50 million bid for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.

Yesterday I picked my mom up from MIA and boy did she have a great story to tell me. She had flown on the same plane as the Ecuadorian National team which was headed to New York where they will play at a sold out new Meadowlands Stadium on Friday versus Mexico.
My mom is so cool she had a few of the players sign autographs for me and she took pictures with them too.

A new decade, a new year, and 10 players I'll be keeping a watchful eye on for one reason or another in 2010. We all know Drogba, Rooney, Torres, Defoe and the lot will get their 20+ goals and single handily place their teammates on their shoulders and march onwards. But what about the role players that could make or break their clubs championship winning run, help their club break into the top 4, or save their club from relegation and a year in the Championship?

Arsene Wenger linked with bringing in Dutch failure to the Emirates, surely not!

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Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has offered Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger the chance to sign Anfield misfit Ryan Babel , according to The People.

By Ollie Irish

Arsenal vs Birmingham continues to develop into a really hateful fixture. Mmm, we like it spicy. After Arsenal's 2-1 win against McLeish's lot at the Emirates on Saturday, Brum centre-back Roger Johnson accused Marouane Chamakh of diving, then compared Jack Wilshere's red-card tackle on Nikola Zigic to Martin Taylor's infamous leg-breaker on Eduardo (Big Eck also mentioned Eduardo and Wilshere in the same breath):

We all think it (the penalty) was the wrong decision.

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This weekend will be a turning point for the English Premier League in the United States. For the first time in history, all ten Premier League matches will be available live to U.S. viewers.

Typically soccer fans in the United States have been able to see as many as eight live games out of the ten matches each weekend.

As expected Arsenal Ladies have secured their place in the Super League which will replace the Premier League next year. The Super League will run through the summer in 2011 and will be made up of Arsenal Everton Chelsea Doncaster Rovers Bristol Academy Birmingham City OOH Lincoln Liverpool The top six names come from the existing Premier League, the remaining two are from the Northern [.

Big TV weeks for Manchester City in the EPL and Kansas City in the MLS. First, ManCity has it all to play for as they push for the 4th UEFA Champions League position and take on their top two contenders - Aston Villa on Saturday and Tottenham on Wednesday. In the MLS, Kansas City has gotten off to a great start and looking to prove they are a true contender this year.

By Chris Wright

Here's the round-up...

Rumour No. 1: Despite only being in the job for less than a morning, newly-appointed Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is already drawing up plans to spend the £15 million transfer budget he has been handed.

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan may have the ball in this picture of him in action against Birmingham City today, but he apparently did little of consequence with it in a 1-2 Everton loss. (AP photo).

The on-loan Galaxy star lasted 76 minutes before being subbed and I couldn't find a match report that even mentioned his name.

MLS:

- Past week's results - On Thursday night Dallas struggled to put fans in the stands, but did secure two PKs (albeit the second one was very questionable) to earn a 2-2 draw against Seattle. Six MLS match-ups on Saturday, including a 0-0 draw between LA and Kansas City - Chivas USA finally showed the form many expected at the start of the season winning 3-2 over San Jose - Schelotto's PK put Columbus ahead and that is where they stayed, although an onslaught of chances fell to the champs Real Salt Lake.

Liverpool's out-of-favour Ryan Babel is reportedly ready to infuriate manager Rafael Benitez by rejecting a transfer to Sunderland, which would have seen striker Kenwyne Jones move the other way.
Babel's future at Anfield remains the subject of much speculation with Birmingham City believed to have failed with a bid for the Dutchman while a range of other clubs including Marseille, Besiktas and Fiorentina have also been linked with the 23-year-old.

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By Chris Wright

"Sunday Bloody Sunday It really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday doesn't it?" Here's the round up...

And in a puff of smoke, Little Micky was gone

Rumour No. 1: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has ran out of patience with Michael Owen and is willing to let the misfiring striker leave in the summer.

By Chris Wright

Here's what may prove to be both the first and last round up this week...

Rumour No. 1: Real Madrid have told Liverpool that they are unwilling to meet their £30 million valuation of Steven Gerrard, with the La Liga giants only willing to go as high as £20 million for the 30-year-old England midfielder.

Cash-strapped, poverty-stricken Real Madrid (yes, the very same side that spent over £200 million pounds on transfer fees last summer) have apparently baulked at the exorbitant price tag Liverpool have slapped on Steven Gerrard's head and requested that they be allowed to pinch the influential midfielder on the cheap the cheeky sods!

Ireland u16 international Bradley Garmston certainly has the pedigree to be lightening fast on the left wing for Ireland and West Brom in the future. The Chorley born teenager has been rated as the second fastest 100 & 200m runner in the UK for his age and despite a promising sprinting career has decided to stick with football.

By Chris Wright

Oh, what a beautiful morning. Here's the round-up...

Rumour No. 1: AC Milan are considering a £20 million raid on Manchester United for misfiring striker Dimitar Berbatov.

An anonymous spokesman for the Serie A giants has been quoted as saying;

"No contact has been made yet but we admire Berbatov.

News today that Newcastle United may be in a battle with Birmingham City to sign Shane Long from Reading. Shane Long - very impressive for Reading this season The news is in the News Of The World today, and it's that both Premiership clubs are willing to cough up £3M for the Ireland striker, and that [.

You could be excused for being a bit maddened by the fact that many sides this week, have a massive amount of key players either injured of doubtful ahead of their respective Week 6 fixtures. Arsenal and Manchester City are hurting the most, both figuratively and literaly. Here's a quick look at who is lounging in the physio's office:

Arsenal are missing five players ahead of their test with West Bromwich Albion.

So in the past two weeks Robbie Findley and Edson Buddle have been linked to every English side that is not part of "the Big Four" or owned by an American. According to various U.K. media outlets (which by nature are very* trustworthy) these two have Everton, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton, Stoke City, Nottingham Forest, and Bolton all up on their collective jock right now.

USA - Honduras at 9pm on Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura. FA Cup on Setanta: Reading - Burnley at 7:40am amd Everton - Birmingham City at 10am. On FSC: Accrington Stanley - Fulham at 10am, Spurs - Leeds United at noon, and PNE - Chelsea at 5pm. EPL on Setanta: Manchester United - Hull at 3pm. Bundesliga on ESPN Deportes: Bayern Munich - Werder Bremen at 9:30am and Hamburg - Borussia Dortmund at 12:30pm.

Birmingham City continued their fine season with an excellent victory at Goodison Park. Goals from Cristian Benitez and Barry Ferguson gave Alex McLeish's side a two goal lead that they held onto until Leon Osman grabbed one back for Everton but the St Andrews' side held on to make it to round five of the FA Cup.

As one player appears to be heading for the Anfield exit another seems set to continue his Liverpool tenure.

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Liverpool winger Ryan Babel is reportedly close to an Anfield exit, with Sunderland ready to renew their interest.

Is White Hart Lane heading for a busy end to the January transfer window?

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Birmingham balk at £13m for Roman Pavlyuchenko of Tottenham Hotspur
• City make counter-offer for striker

Birmingham City have refused to meet Tottenham Hotspur's £13m asking price for Roman Pavlyuchenko and will turn their attention elsewhere if the London club refuse to negotiate.

It was as if Stoke City had studied the disgraceful tactics of Birmingham City and seen them as a blueprint rather than a dire warning. And in one way they were right. After all, if you can cut out a player totally for a year or maybe more, and just risk a 3 match ban [...]

-
- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!
- Visit the football-only new-look QPR Report Messageboard throughout the day for the latest QPR Updates and discussion.
Mail - Blackpool striker DJ Campbell arrested over stabbing outside London nightclub
- Blackpool striker DJ Campbell has been arrested in connection with a stabbing outside a night club.

By Ollie Irish

Links!!

Annie Liebowitz shot World Cup stars in their underwear for Vanity Fair, including Pato, C-Ron, Didier Drogba and Landon Donovan [Kickette & 101GreatGoals]

Eidur Gudjohnsen to take legal action against Daily Star after Nazi salute allegation [Goaly Moly]

Chelsea to make big offer for Kaka this summer?

One of the best parts about the World Cup is getting to see the stars of tomorrow who are on display. There are several such talents in South Africa, and a few of those are mentioned in our rundown of the day's top transfer headlines.

Germany's Marko Marin and Greece's Sotiris Ninis have both had small roles for their squads thus far in the World Cup, but if they get a bigger chance to impress and take full advantage of it, there's a more than fair chance we could see them move from the gossip pages to the transfer lists sometime this summer.

One of the best parts about the World Cup is getting to see the stars of tomorrow who are on display. There are several such talents in South Africa, and a few of those are mentioned in our rundown of the day's top transfer headlines.

Germany's Marko Marin and Greece's Sotiris Ninis have both had small roles for their squads thus far in the World Cup, but if they get a bigger chance to impress and take full advantage of it, there's a more than fair chance we could see them move from the gossip pages to the transfer lists sometime this summer.

It seems the transfer market has picked up rather dramatically this week. James McFadden unsettled at Birmingham And there is continuing news in the press that Scottish forward James McFadden, of Birmingham City, may move this summer, and he's being linked with both Celtic and Newcastle United. The 27-year-old has played in the top Premier [.

Below is a list of every Premier League club and the latest transfer news!

spotted at the telegraph

Arsenal

Arsenal will battle it out with Liverpool and Tottenham to sign out-of-favour Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips for a cut-price £6 million.

Squad Profiles are available for each of the twenty clubs currently playing in the Premier League. They are an overview of each club and specifically denote players to highly consider selecting for your side. Others have been ear-marked to watch out for as they may be new to the Premiership or returning from injury.

Italian winger Mauro Camoranesi has been fined $200,000 Argentinean ($50,000 US) for a tackle he made 16 years ago. The now 33 year old Camoranesi was just 17 in 1994 and playing for Aldovisi in Argentina, when he tackled an opposition player named Roberto Pizzo and apparently ended his career. For reasons best known to Argentinean judicial system, it's taken over a decade and a half for the courts to rule that "Although it's not possible to describe Camoranesi's action as deliberately intentional, it was incredibly clumsy .

Italian winger Mauro Camoranesi has been fined $200,000 Argentinean ($50,000 US) for a tackle he made 16 years ago. The now 33 year old Camoranesi was just 17 in 1994 and playing for Aldovisi in Argentina, when he tackled an opposition player named Roberto Pizzo and apparently ended his career. For reasons best known to Argentinean judicial system, it's taken over a decade and a half for the courts to rule that "Although it's not possible to describe Camoranesi's action as deliberately intentional, it was incredibly clumsy .

Fox Soccer Channel today launched a beta version of FoxSoccer.tv, its broadband website, in time for the 2010-11 Premier League season which begins Saturday, August 14.

The biggest change is that FoxSoccer.tv has switched broadband providers from RayV to Perform. Perform's client list includes Virgin Media, Marca and Omnisport.

ESPN2 has Manchester United - WBA at 10am. Arsenal - Birmingham City is on Fox Soccer Channel at the same time. Also at 10am, Fox Soccer Plus has Eddie Johnson and CLint Dempsey hosting Spurs. Fulham are in 10th-place on 9 points, leading the Premier League in draws with only one win so far this season.