Part one of the 2009-2010 La Liga season preview will be out in the next couple of days, but today is devoted to Daniel Jarque González, who tragically passed away at the age of twenty-six while his RCD Espanyol team and he were on their preseason tour of Italy. According to the RCD Espanyol website, "Tragedy struck Espanyol and the family of Dani Jarque this evening.

We all know David Villa, the world's greatest striker, resides with Valencia CF.

We also know he's fond of Sporting Gijon, the club where he began his professional career.

We also happen to be playing Gijon this weekend (more on that in a bit). So let's hope Villa doesn't let sentimentality get in the way of scoring a few goals and leading us to victory.

El flamante campeón de Europa ya piensa en la siguiente temporada. Fue el propio Pep Guardiola el que afirmó tras la final de Roma que le gustaría contar con una plantilla más amplia en el próximo ejercicio, ya que, según el de Santpedor, los equipos campeones necesitan "renovarse" y cambiar caras para no perder competitividad.

Arbeloa to Madrid for £3.5m
Unfortunately, it's not surprising, although the fee is lower than expected. Still, even in the last year of his contract, it's £1m more than Benitez paid for him. Silver linings, and all.
But when Kolo Toure's moving for £15m at the same time as it looks like Dossena's going back to Italy for £4-6m, it feels a bit like the Rick Parry bad old days of Liverpool getting screwed on transfer fees.

Pictures of famous Athletic Bilbao players at San Mamés. Photo courtesy of Nicholas McGowan.

Athletic Bilbao would have no problems with the proposed UEFA plan of mandating eight homegrown players in the squad of eighteen for every match or the theoretical 6 + 5 rule, where six players of the starting eleven would have to be eligible for the national team of their club's country.

Por casi media década el sistema Lavolpista habitó entre nosotros, con buenos y malos recuerdos. Desde las finales perdidas con Herrera, el paso fugaz de Mizrahi hasta la llegada del patriarca del sistema y su imprevista partida.

Ningún otro equipo pudiera haber recibido mejor a Lavolpe como Atlas, tanto por su conocida cantera como el cobijo de una afición que añoraba su regreso, algunas personas tienen suerte y después de la tempestad resurgen con nuevas oportunidades.

Agora é do outro lado da 2ª circular. Uma saída de peso. Quem foi o responsável por esta brilhante e decisiva contratação? Qualquer jovem saído da "cantera" teria feito melhor. Uma vez desculpa-se, mas segunda...

Mawete João Batista, conhecido no mundo do futebol por Mawete Júnior, é mais um dos muitos "flops" saídos da cantera benfiquista. Actualmente com 27 anos, o angolano, que chegou a jogar e a fazer alguns golos na principal equipa do SLB, anda perdido pelo terceiro escalão do mediano futebol cipriota, onde cumpre a sua segunda época ao serviço do desconhecido Chalkanoras Idaliou.

Oscar Ustari can only stare blankly as Gonzalo Higuaín beats him for a second time.

The fashionable district. The working-class south. The established. The disrespected. Commerce. Industry. A comparison between the two top Madrid clubs. Getafe just wants to be in the conversation.

The 'Young Guns' Are Getting Older By The Day!

Its Official Gooners. Both Carlos Vela and Fran Merida have commited their long term future to Arsenal.

11Gunners wishes them a pleasant stay@N5 and celebrates the same Right Now..

Merida, a young prodigy, snapped from the famed Cantera, much to the angst of the Barca big-shots, has still not found his best form at the Emirates.

The tectonic plates that underpin global football moved and moved precipitously towards Real Madrid one again.

Another 35 million euros shelled out, this time to Lyon for the services of Karim Benzema. The French striker becomes the fourth player to sign up in the Florentino Perez era joining Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Raul Albiol.

La tarde del viernes, España jugaba el segundo partido del Europeo sub 19. El resultado ha sido 2-1 en contra de los españoles, resultado con el que se complica la clasificación para la segunda fase de la competición. Ya he declarado alguna vez mi disconformidad con el cuerpo técnico de las selecciones inferiores españolas: Hierro, del Bosque, López Caro, Luis Milla y Aitor Karanka me parecen poco adecuados para una cantera como la española, pero he de admitir que Luis Milla es mi preferido de la terna de entrenadores.

Lleno eres de gloria
Bendito tú eres entre todos los clubes
Y bendito es el fruto de tu cantera: Cuffaro
Rosario Central, padre de ñuls,
Ruega por nosotros, Grondona y acreedores,
Ahora y en la hora de comenzar el torneo".
Con esta plegaria pagana comienzo una nota que hace rato vengo postergando en función de que se fueran definiendo algunas incorporaciones.

Athletic Bilbao have enjoyed a notable start to the season, sitting in eighth place in La Liga following the weekend's 2-2 draw away at Real Valladolid, as Joaquin Caparros has led the team to one of their brighter La Liga starts in recent years.

Caparros, who made his name as Sevilla manager, has constructed a team that is certainly not lacking in quality.

Iker Muniain tornou-se no início do mês o futebolista mais jovem de sempre a marcar na Liga Espanhola. Com apenas 16 anos e 289 dias, o avançado do Athletic de Bilbao marcou um dos golos do empate a duas bolas em Valladolid. O jovem, que já é comparado por alguns a Messi e que pode defrontar o Nacional da Madeira na Liga Europa, também já tinha feito o gosto ao pé nas provas europeias frente ao Áustria de Viena e Young Boys.

Si por algo se caracteriza el Manchester United –dejando de lado su tiranía en la última década de la Premier League- es por poseer una plantilla profunda, de calidad y con muchas variantes. Entre veteranos de mil batallas, fichajes de renombre y una cuidada cantera, los Red Devils y sobre todo Alex Ferguson pueden presumir de contar con múltiples y variadas opciones para afrontar las competiciones locales y europeas.

Corey has a nice post on Real Madrid Offside titled The Team That Could Have Been: A Decade of Lost Prospects listing 75 players who came through the Real Madrid cantera (meaning literally "quarry" but actually "youth system") but were somewhat rejected and went on to play elsewhere. Some quality names on that list.