ENGLAND After the incompetence of Sven and the tragi-comic cameo from the Wally with the Brolly, Fabio Capello has restored the passion that seemed to be lacking in recent tournaments. An assured qualifying campaign saw the Three Lions book their place in Africa with two games to spare, finishing as the highest scorers in Europe with [.

I was looking at some statistics and the passing stats interested me. I think Arsenal games can be classified based on these numbers. It's more of a post game classification rather than a pre-game one, although it wont be difficult to predict in many cases.

First up are the games we dominate

(c) DesiGunner

Amongst our recent games, the wins over Portsmouth, Hull and Stoke are in this category.

Levesque watches the Reserve match v the Huskies, photo by Rick Morrison

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Roger Levesque has started the past two matches on the Right Wing, and Pat Noonan came on with a decent performance for a man just cut from the Rapids.

Alas, the 2010 edition of the World Cup (or, as we like to call it, "The Marriage of Much Man/Flesh in Motion") is now securely fastened under our Hermes belts. The time has come to bid our final adieu with a few medals of our own.

Hottest Newcomer

Of all the World Cup Hottie Hunting posts we agonised over, Uruguay's Diego Perez was the cream of the be-on-the-lookout-for crop.

Not really trying to call out David Hirshey here....

Pele was perhaps the first to popularize "the #10"

Hirshey has written a column that suggests that the United States biggest need is for a true #10. It's a discussion that merits debate, though I think Hirshey is too strong in his assessment of who and where a"#10″ will come from for the States.

At the time of typing it seems that the i's have not yet been dotted, t's crossed and funky Icelandic symbols inserted, but nevertheless it seems that Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen is heading to the Lane imminently. The AANP verdict? Instinctive reaction is a thumbs-up. Admittedly I haven't seen him play for a few years, other than the odd Champions League cameo, but he's only 31 so I'd imagine he's still got it.

Tempus doesn't half fugit when things are going swimmingly. It barely seem five minutes ago that we pitched up to the Lane for the first time this season, to offer Steven Gerrard some legal advice ("Self-defence, you're having a laugh") and salute BAE's frankly mental long-range effort.

We're running out of adjectives to describe Sylvie van der Vaart. Beautiful, inspiring, and talented just aren't cutting it any more. How about "beaupirented"? Kind of has a ring to it.

Sylvie has advanced to the penultimate episode on Let's Dance by scoring 58 points for her salsa and jive dances last week and is currently in second place based on average scores.

Interesting that Sir Alex weighs in on Thierry Henry's reported move to the MLS, saying he will be a Red Bulls success. Almost makes you wonder whether Man Utd's coach is a wee bit worried that he might be contemplating a Premiership move, maybe back to Arsenal. If Sol Campbell can return, all bets are off.

Leave it to the folks at Nike to put together a perfect commercial to get fans ready for the World Cup (complete with a cameo from Tim Howard and Landon Donovan).

Enjoy:

Even more excited for the World Cup? It's just three weeks away.

Not sure I have the words to describe Paul Gascoigne's cameo on the Raoul Moat story last night.
Whatever he's done in his life, whatever mistakes he's made, I just wish somebody could help him sort his life out.

Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

Thierry Henry's long-awaited arrival as a member of the New York Red Bulls finally came on Thursday night and he didn't disappoint.

The French star flashed his world class form for 45 minutes on Thursday in the Red Bulls 2-1 loss to Tottenham in the New York Challenge opener.

There really is little else around so I thought I'd reflect on the start to the season, and one player in particular who looks re-born -Tomas Rosicky

This summer he was close to leaving, not of his own will I hastily add, but there has always been big interest from Germany in him but Werder Bremen and Everton both inquired over his availability as Arsenal were pursuing defenders from both the clubs, Phil Jagielka and Per Mertesacker were the targets on the Arsenal side.

By Ollie Irish

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey was praised by Nottingham Forest boss Billy Davies as he made his competitive return from a broken leg, against Leicester City last night. Even though Forest lost 1-0, Ramsey showed glimpses of his ability in a 30-minute cameo.

Fulham ended 2009 by sending Lincoln City four players, one of whom, Adam Watts, was there already. Watts' move becomes permanent, as is the move for Joe Anderson. At the same time, Michael Uwezu and Matthew Saunders are on a month's loan.

This represents good work from Chris Sutton, who played under Roy at Blackburn in the 90s and is noted by journalists to be a dark horse bet to become a decent manager in his own right.

Saturdays without a game are always strange, I find. Even though we should be well used to Sunday football by now it does make the day seem less complete, or something.

Anyway, the first of two games against Bolton takes place tomorrow at their place and there is some updated team news. We know Cesc is back, Clichy will be on the bench at a 'minimum' while Denilson and Aaron Ramsey miss out.

I was expecting worse news in all honesty:

MANCHESTER City boss Roberto Mancini expects Roque Santa Cruz to be sidelined for a month with his latest calf injury.
The Paraguayan lasted just four minutes of his comeback at Everton on Saturday before going down with the same problem that caused him to miss three games over the Christmas period.

Last night I dreamt we played Manchester United in a stadium which was not ours because the corporation that owned Arsenal had scheduled a Scritti Politti concert at the Grove for the same day. So Arsenal had play in a much more intimate venue, a stadium in Dundalk which began as a stadium but ended up as a kind of trendy bar with glass walls looking out over the sea.

When you have such a massive ten day period coming up, it's difficult to focus on a game against Bolton. But focus we must for the points table does not care about who the opponent was. Three points give us the opportunity to go top of the league, a feeling many have forgotten.

From a tactical point of view there isn't much to say.

Tottenham vs Liverpool
Premier League
White Hart Lane, London
Sunday 28th November 2010
16:00 BST

To borrow the slightly derisory words of Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, Tottenham are a 'top side' and no longer the 'mugs' that they once were, with a bounding start to the season already seeing them dispatch of reigning European champions Inter, bitter local rivals Arsenal and (most consumately of all) Champions League also-rans Werder Bremen with their patented brand of gung-ho bombardiering.

Ssshhh! Don't tell your mini-league rivals I have a calf problem!
I hope you captained Wayne Rooney last week, as we urged. That's really all there is to say at this point. An amazing 64 points from one player (if he was given the armband in the official Fantasy Premier League game) is certainly the highest captain total I can ever remember.

A veritable feast of stuff to keep us going this morning so no hanging around talking about unimportant stuff, such as hilarious tightrope walking monkeys playing banjos or world hunger.

The first of four incredibly tough fixtures takes place tonight as we make the jaunt to Villa Park. The fixtures have been a bit weirdly shaped this season.

So my worst fears for MO7 have been confirmed.
The Boy Wonder needs an operation on his dodgy hamstring and that is that as far as seeing him in United colours for 2009-10. He will be bitterly disappointed despite having only featured in a handful of games. His cameo against City will always be remembered in United folklore.

DANI PACHECO is aiming to muscle in on a first team place at Liverpool this season.
The talented, but tiny Spanish starlet has been spending extra time in the Melwood gym in a bid to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League.
And even though the five feet six inch striker has already made a significant impact in the first team this season – notably with his goal creating contribution against Unirea Urziceni last month and a lively Champions League cameo against Fiorentina back in December, the 19-year-old is looking further ahead to the future.

Clint Dempsey completed his return from injury for the Cottagers in a 30-minute cameo as they saw their European hopes sent to the brink thanks to a trio of first-half Juventus goals in Turin.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Benny Feilhaber completed his recovery from the ankle injury that sidelined him nearly six weeks by coming off the bench in AGF Aarhus' 4-0 victory against Esbjerg on Wednesday.

Feilhaber made a 20-minute cameo for Aarhus and his appearance marked the first time he's played for the club since December.

Rafa Benitez insists his decision to substitute Fernando Torres at Birmingham in Sunday's draw was simply an attempt to freshen up his flagging Liverpool side.
With the game evenly poised at 1-1 with 25 minutes left to play the Spaniard surprised everyone in St Andrews with his decision to withdraw Torres in favour of David Ngog.

It seems we've got ourselves a squad. A colony, even. It's been spread pretty thin over the past thirty games- numbers have been falling since day one- but the cogs have kept chugging and stand-ins found at almost every turn. The colony remains: sturdy, functional and hoovering up points like a god damn Dyson Powerball.

'Luka Modric is a wee-man.' - Slaven Bilic
I rarely open a piece with a quote but the Croatian coach's gushing eulogy of Modric was too good to omit. He went on to praise Moddle's cameo contribution to the morale-lifting win over Wigan and he had a point. But this was a win down to so much more than one man.

If you didn't see the Michael Harrington faux-Maxim shoot yesterday you missed out. But in the interest of milking that baby like a lactating Holstein the Wizards have released a bit of bonus footage from the Director's Cut. It's got more makeup, a hidden camera cameo from coach Peter Vermes and a soul-destroying scene where the "director" gets Michael to lick his paws.

This is a short, excitable update ahead of our European Cup quarter-final decider in the Nou Camp.

With the tweets of the gooners already or soon to be in Barcelona beginning to land on my tweetstep, things will only get more giddy from hereon in. Am I jealous of them? What do you reckon. The only things I don't envy are their mobile phone and bar bills.

Rafael Benitez is confident Daniel Pacheco has the talent to become an "important player" for Liverpool after the starlet's encouraging cameo against Fulham on Sunday.
The Spaniard was introduced as a late substitute against the Cottagers as the Reds looked to break the visitors' stubborn resistance.

Right then, Wigan away today, and Sp*rs win over Chelsea yesterday proves that just about anything can happen in this topsy-turvy season of ours.

Harry will have been twitching with delight as his Portsmouth playing flops provided the Sp*rs DVD makers with enough material for a 24 disc BluRay special as they beat Chelsea 2-1.

The Hollywood script writers penning "The Life & Times of David Beckham" would never dare end their tale on a torn Achilles. Maybe a five-minute cameo at the 2010 World Cup. Or even his brief and inconsequential return to Old Trafford earlier this month. But certainly not the image of England's most-capped midfielder hobbling on one foot in Milan's waning evening light.

Van der Sar 6 Should have done better for the Drogba offside goal, but did well otherwise.

Neville 5 Caught out of position too many times and crossing was mostly poor. Played well in the last ten minutes. Shame about the other 80.

Ferdinand 8 Had to cover for Neville quite often and did his job in the middle very well.

Leave it to the folks at Nike to put together a perfect commercial to get fans ready for the World Cup (complete with a cameo from Tim Howard and Landon Donovan).

Enjoy:

Even more excited for the World Cup? It's just three weeks away.

Capello looks increasingly like he won't do this to the FA

The odds of Fabio Capello taking over from Jose Mourinho at Inter seem to be growing each passing day. Massimo Moratti has ruled out the return of Roberto Mancini and Rafa Benitez and seems to have targeted the return of Capello to the Serie.

What the hell happened? I've read a lot, watched a lot and listened to a lot about the 1978 World Cup. And I still don't fully understand what happened? How a squad cheered to the rafters on their departure could return shamed. How a football manager could be blamed for a nation turning down the opportunity of self government.

Day 1 in South Africa was eventful for Chelsea boys just not on the field.

Both Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda saw action for France in the country's stirring goalless draw with Uruguay in Cape Town. Anelka started as a lone striker, and struggled. Malouda, meanwhile, received a 15-minute cameo after he was dropped from the XI for reasons we will touch on shortly.

In a sentence

Poulsen's horrible own-goal and Denmark's lack of ambition make it comfortable for the unconvincing Oranje.

The tamest fightback

After their first-half performance, it seemed reasonable to expect a strong Danish response to going behind.