1. Fabio Capello. The single most important factor in England's rise. A Croatian journalist whose name I didn't catch said Capello has stopped England playing like England, which summarises perfectly. Gone has the fear, the indiscipline, and the indecision, replaced with organisation, discipline, and tactical nous.

This is the fifth in a recurring series where we look at the DC United season, five games at a time.
Results: 2-1-2. 4 GF, 4 GA
Standings: Third place in the Eastern Conference
Statistical Leaders: Josh Wicks (3 clean sheets); Namoff, Burch, Moreno, Emilio (1 goal each), Gomez (1 assist)
Most frequent lineup:
What we liked:

• Discovering our starting XI – I've often wondered during this season if we're ever going to have a single consistent lineup that can be used every week.

Every club has one. That vital cog that keeps the team wheels turning. With the season in its infancy, supporters up and down the land are still harbouring dreams of glory (or at the very least over achievement, given that short of a billionaire Sheikh turning up on your doorstep, thoughts of the title are confined to a privileged few these days).

12 goals from defense the past two seasons, beat that Vermaelen
Our Funny Feeling Friday selection this week - an unpopular (by fantasy terms), underrated, or out of form player who we think will start producing in the coming weeks is Birmingham's central defensive summer signing Roger Johnson.

I thought I'd do another 20 points match review, so that it is easier to follow.

1. Criticized by many lately, including me, I think Clichy had his most solid game yet. He looked focused and was rarely beaten today.

2. If anything, most of Olympiakos' threat was on the right flank where Eboue was playing at right back.

It's interesting to see that while England have (before Brazil played Argentina last night) scored the most goals in the WCQ's, they have shown their defensive errors a- plenty. Capello's men have only managed clean sheets against Trinidad & Tobago, Andorra, Slovakia, The US and Kazakhstan- hardly teams with great attacking threat.

Looking for bargain players below the top price in each position? There are some great valued players to be had if you're looking to free up some cash for that "big" signing. Kevin picks out two from each position and tells you why you should be investing in these great valued players.

So easy to hate in real life, so easy to love in the fantasy world
Here's what I know:
Ashley Cole has 2 goals this season in 6 matches.
In 2008-2009, he scored 1 goal the whole season.In 2007-2008, he scored 1 goal the whole season.In 2006-2007, he scored 0 goals the whole season.

When: Tonight, 7:30pm
Where: Laker Field, Morrow, GA
The Spartans (1-0-0) come into tonight's match the number one ranked school in Division II. UT will need to defend that ranking by securing their second win of the season against Clayton State University (2-0-0), which is just south of Atlanta.

France's lineup was something like this:

Gignac
Henry Gourcuff Anelka
Toulalan Diarra
Evra Escude Gallas Sagna
Lloris

With Henry and Anelka, it was a bit like a 4-2-1-3, but it was essentially the France formation (4-2-3-1).

And although it looks to me like Domenech is picking just about the right players, the team play is lacking fluidity.

An Oslo derby between Lyn and Valerenga highlights this weekend's action in the Eliteserien as goalkeepers Tyrel Lacey and Troy Perkins hope to keep clean sheets while Jay Needham and Alta host last place Skeid.

I've held off on using my wild card this week despite carrying a lot of dead weight. My dead weight is all in the sub 6M range, so will be relatively easy to replace over the next 2-3 weeks, but for now - I'm still stuck with two Wolves' players - Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (5.2M) and the woeful Nenad Milijas (5.

From mcfc.co.uk:

"You're disappointed to lose any game - Craig scored two wonder goals for us and we thought we'd done enough to get a point, but it wasn't to be.

"There are no excuses. We are pros and we have to look at ourselves collectively and as individuals and realise that it just wasn't good enough.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed the first time he showed interest in Thomas Vermaelen was when Ajax faced Arsenal in the 2007 Amsterdam Tournament.

On that particular day and on the Belgian International, the Frenchman said:

I loved that. We watched him from that moment on.

If you are Paul Hart - by far the bookies' favorite to become the first sacked manager in the Premier League this season - you would need a miracle to save Portsmouth from relegation at this point. Four games into the new season, Pompey are yet to scrap up a single point, which is a clear indicator of how the team roster was in desperate need of major bolstering on the final day of transfers.

Next up for Boro is a trip to Field Mill and Mansfield Town. Graham Westley's side are 3 matches unbeaten since the 2-1 defeat at the Kassam Stadium against leaders Oxford United on the 22nd August. Tomorrow's game will be a big test for the team. Down the years, Stevenage never seem to play well or get results at 'big' grounds and Mansfield will be no different.

by CARL ELDRIDGE Tommy Vermaelen is very much the man of the moment when it comes to coverage of the Arsenal in this morning's papers. The Belgique battler scored twice in Saturday's 4-zip win over weary Wigan at the Emirates and turned in another eye-catching display at the back alongside Bill Gallas.

Tim Howard recorded two clean sheets last week to help Everton get out of the Premiership gutter and gain a leg up in the Europa League.

Newcastle's longest-serving and one of the most loyal players ever, Steve Harper, will equal Kevin Carr's club record of six consecutive clean sheets, if Newcastle can stop Blackpool scoring tonight. Steve Harper - a leader on Tyneside Steve talked last night about the rehabilitated Newcastle team this season: "It has been a great team effort," [.

The Chelsea monkey is well and truly off our backs, so now is the perfect time to go to Stamford Bridge with confidence. The defeat against Manchester United has guaranteed complacency will not be a problem, but with four wins under our belts we should still head west with nothing to fear.

Stamford Bridge is no longer the fortress it once was – Liverpool and Arsenal both won there last season – and the players have the confidence of knowing they took four points from Chelsea last term.

Fernando Torres wants to write another chapter for his new autobiography covering a Liverpool title-winning season.
But after conceding two more sloppy goals at Upton Park, the Spanish striker admitted the Reds must first have another read of the old-school defensive manual.
Torres scored a magnificent double in a pulsating game which explains the worldwide popularity of the Premier League.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed the first time he showed interest in Thomas Vermaelen was when Ajax faced Arsenal in the 2007 Amsterdam Tournament.

On that particular day and on the Belgian International, the Frenchman said:

I loved that. We watched him from that moment on.

Ben Foster has been on the receiving end of plenty of flack following our 4-3 victory over City yesterday but one of our favourite bloggers, Penguin United, is fighting his corner.

So that's it. It's official, apparently. If you read the papers and the blogs today, Ben Foster is not good enough for United, and never will be.

Did you read this column last week? If not, then you should have. It could have made you some money. Nine out of ten outcomes correct, five out of ten results spot on, I should be backing my instincts.

Of course last week was a one-off, a fluke. Or was it? Here are my predictions for this week's round of matches, tell me if you agree, and feel free to add your own.

Villarreal 0-2 Real Madrid
0-1 Ronaldo, 2'
0-2 Kaka (pen), 73'

With four wins in four league games and three clean sheets in the bunch, it's statistically difficult to find fault with Real Madrid's early season performances. They have ostensibly done everything right in their opening games: they have incorporated all the new faces into the mix, gotten big contributions from old favorites like Raul and Guti, and seen their world record signing get off to a record-breaking start.

After outshooting Colorado 18-12 and controlling most of the possession, the Wizards tied the Rapids tonight 0-0 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Mixed results around the League in terms of our playoff hopes, as the late NE win doesn't help, but the late Chicago tie does. Chivas has scored at the beginning of the second half at home to NY.

For the third consecutive year, Fulham so early in the season is a benchmark for the Arsenal. Two years ago, after Jens Lehmann's blunder, Alex Hleb kicked-off our Premiership campaign with a very late strike and we went on to have a memorable season. Last year, we faced them on the second day, we lost and we went on to have a miserable season.

For the third consecutive year, Fulham so early in the season is a benchmark for the Arsenal. Two years ago, after Jens Lehmann's blunder, Alex Hleb kicked-off our Premiership campaign with a very late strike and we went on to have a memorable season. Last year, we faced them on the second day, we lost and we went on to have a miserable season.

Liverpool end draw days. The Reds got off to a miserable start to the season losing two of their first three fixtures. Since then they've re-asserted their challenge in the league, scoring 16 goals on the way to 4 straight victories. Liverpool lost last season's title by drawing matches they probably should have won.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez insists that he's unconcerned about his side's leaky defence this season, pointing out that the Reds are in sterling form at the other end of the pitch.
Striker Fernando Torres, who leads the Premier League scoring charts with eight goals, is the primary reason for Liverpool's best offensive start to a campaign in over a century.