Football is a funny game - this is the sport where anything, and I mean anything, can happen completely out of the blue. For example, no one ever imagined that Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who was literally unstoppable not too long ago, would suddenly become as anonymous as he is nowadays.

This weekend's headlines were stolen by Emmauel Adebayor even before a ball was kicked. Saturday morning, Adebayor finally lashed out at his former club Arsenal, moments before the Gunners kicked-off a challenging visit to the Eastlands.

Cristiano Ronaldo's season just got a little worse. He hasn't been enjoying the best of times on the pitch thus far, and this morning the Portuguese winger crashed his Ferrari on the way to training. The crash happened as he crashed into a barrier on the A538 Wilmslow Road. So what is the cost of the Ferrari F599 that Ronnie crashed?

If there is one team that is secretly thriving in a summer of high-profile transfers, it is Birmingham City. As mentioned by my fellow Premiership Talk writer, Brian Lofrumento, the newly promoted outfit is reportedly pursuing former Arsenal captain Patrick Viera, which is in addition to a handful of other acquisitions made recently.

Are you a fan of Frank Lampard? Don't worry, if you choose not to answer in the affirmative, you surely have some company. While I have written several articles here at Premiership Talk to demonstrate my support for Frank Lampard, this article is not about my support.

After a fantastic performance by Manchester United in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Emirates, United winger Park Ji-Sung has cemented himself as this week's Wednesday Wonder. The man of many names (Park Ji-Sung, Ji-Sung Park, Three-Lung Park) has now had two consecutive great performances for a Manchester United squad that is rolling.

Plenty of transfers are floating about this summer, but almost all of them revolve around familiar faces. Premiership Talk takes a look at this summer's hottest targets.

David Villa

Real Madrid have already clinched the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, and David Villa appears to be next on the list.

Here in America, ESPN is truly the "Worldwide Leader In Sports." Millions of people wake up with Sportscenter in the morning, and go to bed with it on in the evening. Anyone in America that follows sports seemingly gets their information from ESPN.

The only problem? ESPN has literally no respect for soccer.

Now that the Coca Cola Championship has come to a halt (temporarily, at least, with the playoffs still to be played), us Premier League fans have three new teams to look forward to seeing next season. While only Wolves and Birmingham have locked up promotion spots for next season, within the next few weeks we'll know who out of Reading, Burnley, Sheffield United, and Preston North End will be playing top flight footbal come August.

It's beginning to smell a lot like Argentina around Merseyside. Reports coming out of White Hart Lane indicate that Liverpool have made a shocking and audacious bid for current Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez. Tottenham were preparing their own bid for Tevez, but have been left dejected by Liverpool's much more attractive offer.

With this article, I realize that I risk angering some staunch Inter Milan supporters. But since I have waited three long years to express my views on this issue, I feel obliged to let them out. The truth is, I simply can't fathom why no one can stop Inter Milan in the Italian Serie A.

Perhaps it is the lackluster attitude of their guilty rivals ever since the notorious match-fixing scandals of 2006.

As soon as the referee blew his whistle to bring a toughly contested fixture between Manchester United and Everton to its end at Old Trafford, it became clear that the home side has indeed mastered the technique of winning games with a 1-0 margin this season. Some of their rivals feel that Sir Alex Ferguson's men have been lucky to escape with multiple 1-0 wins this season and many have accused United of appearing "lost" on their way to yet another successful season.

As soon as Emmanuel Adebayor started limping off the field in the 38th minute, it was clear that the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham would swing into the favor of the hosts at the White Hart Lane. The more important implication of Adebayor's injury, however, was obviously much beyond this afternoon's game.

Fabio Capello may have led England to one of its best starts in a World Cup qualification campaign. However, as the Three Lions' last outing against European Champions Spain suggests, there is still a lot of learning to do for Mr. Capello before he gets his starting eleven completely right. At least I feel this way.

So, lets get straight to it. It's the question on everybody's lips. Did Sir Alex Ferguson disrespect the FA Cup by fielding the cast of Skins? There were rumblings as soon as I entered the stadium. Some people had seen it on TV in one of the many bars, some had been phoned by friends, some were just wildly speculating.

Ten things I noticed from this week's Champions League semifinals:

1. Much Ado About Nothing – Much to the woe of slobbering, over enthusiastic journalists everywhere, the Barcelona myth was partially debunked on Tuesday. It's not that they were awful by any stretch of the imagination, but when faced with an equally good team who didn't stand aside and let them play through them they looked more than a little stumped.

Football FanCast columnist Mike Harvey feels that technology in football is not the answer.

Officiating in football is headline news these days. The past few weeks left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans. FIFA is at a crossroads and how they choose to handle this problem will affect the game for years.

Does anyone else get the feeling that things have been going too well for too long? The English Premier League has gone from European underachievers to world dominators in only a few years. Foreign investment and an influx of the world's best talent has made the Premiership the undisputed champion of Europe and of the world.

With the Premier League over for another season. Here are some of the things I noticed from the 08/09 campaign:

Like a bat out of Hull

Hull City were everyone's favorite to go straight back down this season. They seemed like a sweet little feel good story, content to have their moment in the big leagues before quickly sinking back to lower level obscurity where they could be patronized by football and non-football people alike for sounding like a thoroughly dull and uninspiring place to live.

So it's finally come to an end. The most protracted and annoying transfer saga in Manchester United history has ended with Cristiano Ronaldo finally getting his wish to look absolutely fabulous in all white whilst topping up his tan in the Spanish Sun.

Some will inevitably see the deal, and his request for it, as inconclusive proof of their belief he is an evil, diabolical, ungrateful little grasping greasy foreign **** who should be strung up and paddled for the sheer gall of wanting to play for anyone but Manchester United.

Here's an analogy for you to mull over:

An entrepreneur comes up with a product. It can be any product: a website, a toaster, a killer mutant robot, you name it, but he designs and develops it. He makes it successful. It's him who brings this product to the attention of the world... and it's a truly great product.

While David Beckham is a forgotten man in the English Premier League, the world's most popular man is still causing controversy around Europe. When he signed for the Los Angeles Galaxy, he promised to make a splash into the American sports market. Being here in America, I witnessed the entire episode first hand, including seeing the reception he received in person at Gillette Stadium just outside Boston, Massachusetts.

This might very well be the greatest sports story in the history of time. At least today. A couple of Toronto FC (that's MLS) coaches escaped with their lives after bobbing and weaving their way out of the path of a pickup truck before it plowed through some trees on Tuesday evening. A pickup truck being [.

As the first installment of the round of sixteen games came to an end in four different venues across Europe, Arsenal stood out as the only winner on the night. One may argue that away goals for F.C. Porto and Barcelona, at Atletico and Lyon respectively, also make them winners in terms of morale going into the second leg.

Manchester United have again been linked with a move for Lyon striker Karim Benzema, after they were reportedly priced out of the market for the talented Frenchman last year. If the rumors are true it does put question marks over the future of some of United's strikers.

Carlos Tevez, who is one of United's most consistent players, looks to be heading for the exit door as his opportunities in the team have been limited since the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov.

While us Premier League fans - and particular us United fans - are feeling a bit blue about yesterday's Champions League final, as a football fan I can't help but feel as if the match settled things quite nicely. Barcelona, with all their ebb and flow, cruised to a 2-0 victory over the English champions, and after the match even the most staunch United supporters had to sing the praise of Pep Guardiola and his side.

In his pursuit of a fresh start, Cristiano Ronaldo has officially listed his Bentley for sale. Of course, the drivers' seat would be on the wrong side of the car in Spain, and Ronaldo is being quite fair with the price - only about one week's wages!

The Bentley, with just 7,000 miles on it, is listed for sale at only £114,950.

Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Carlos Tevez, and Emmanuel Adebayor! Such is the caliber of each of these players that their involvement in this summer's transfer market has left no spotlight for the lesser-known talent. Such is the nature of the market right now that none of the European giants can be bothered with a move for the hidden gems.

With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

So this is the second time in a few weeks where a footballer - one kinda famous, one kinda not so much - has demolished the front of his car only to walk away completely unscathed. First it was Torino's Angelo Ogbonna, who drove his off a bridge and is the luckier though slightly less [...]

No doubt, it is great to see two massive sides come together at a massive venue in massive form. Furthermore, if the clash between these two teams has been scheduled for months, proceedings become even more pulsating. Fans of both teams feel the chills down their spines while the neutrals across the world just wait restlessly for a cracker of a game.

In what is being called, by many UEFA pundits, arguably the most thrilling Champions League quarterfinal in recent memory, Chelsea knocked Liverpool out 7-5 on aggregate. However, the aggregate score is certainly flattering for the Blues, who defended amateurish throughout the second leg at home tonight.

When Taylor Fisher named Federico Macheda last week's Wednesday Wonder, few people - myself included - expected the 17 year old to make any further impact this season. Let's face it, Macheda was only in the squad against Aston Villa because of injuries and suspensions, and his spot on the bench against Sunderland was more out of respect for the Italian.

It's always this way, isn't it? You wait forever for one bus and then four or five come along at once. After a fairly drab season by Premier League standards, it's all gone frigging loopy as the fight for European and domestic dominance reaches its final stretch. A month ago we (well mainly I, but I'm sure you, too) were bemoaning the lack of really exciting games from the 08-09 Premier League season.

Brazilians are a funny species. We've seen some outrageous stories about Brazilian footballers, ranging from Robinho this season to Fat Ronaldo in years past.

Just a month ago it was Adriano's turn to hit the headlines, as the former Inter Milan striker went AWOL from Italy. Found somewhere in Brazil, Adriano told the press that he was sick of Italy and needed to find himself.

Ten things I noticed from this week's Champions League semifinals:

1. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

Results lie. Sometimes. If not, then in the last 5 years I've been privileged enough to watch the great Greek team of 2004 justly claim their prize as the greatest international team in Europe.

Manchester United took another step towards the title against Manchester City on Sunday, and Chelsea squared off against a wounded Arsenal side at the Emirates. Here are the winners and losers from today's action

Winners Carlos Tevez

Manchester United fans woke up this morning to the news that Carlos Tevez is bidding farewell to United, to Manchester, and to England.

Tuesday May 26th

11am – After failing in my quest to get a good night's rest the night before, I spent the morning zombified thanks mainly to the hypnotic waffling of Paddy Crerand on MUTV. After a wash and an egg (though maybe not in that order) I got in the cab and headed for Heathrow Terminal 5.

When I came across this morning's comments provided by the agent of Barcelona ace Samuel Eto'o, the first word that came to my mind was diplomatic. Mr. Mesalles, who has been instrumental in promoting Eto'o to interested parties ever since Barca's treble-winning season came to an end, stated that the Cameroon international preferred to see out the one year that is left on his Barcelona contract.

A capacity crowd of more than 78,000 was in attendance at the CONCACAF Gold Cup final on Sunday. At the full time whistle, Giants Stadium appeared to be a sight of gross injustice more than anything else. After resiliently fighting with their third-string side for the entire tournament, the Americans finally fell to their bitter regional rivals, Mexico, albeit very harshly.