The fallout from last week's El Clasico loss was astounding. The fallout from the coming El Clasico – should we lose (which is a likely event) will perhaps be equally astounding. . The players are shit – we need to buy 6 new players. We need a new defense We need a new midfield, We need better strikers.

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has launched a scathing attack on the foreign players in English football, arguing that they brought the 'curse' of diving into the English game.In his column weekly column for The People, Collymore attacked Man City Manager Roberto Mancini's 'pathetic card-waving antics', and insisted that 'the Italian needs to be stopped before this nasty disease begins

Christopher Medley's video clip on Soccer and the Mechanics of Sport on TV looks at how soccer could be made more attractive in the USA by making it more analytical and information based just like the 3 big sports that dominate viewership. Much of what happens in a soccer match is never really analyzed the same way as an NBA, MLB, or an NFL match.

Midfielder Charlie Adam has no qualms about taking Liverpool's next penalty despite squandering the spot-kick which saw his side lose ground on the Premier League's top five.
Having created a number of chances against Wigan on Wednesday night, Gary Caldwell's handball gave the Reds the perfect opportunity to break the deadlock just after half-time.

Liverpool are in the midst of a brilliant 10-game unbeaten run, which for most managers would be a reason to celebrate, but for Kenny Dalglish, it's not good enough. Liverpool have drawn five home games this season, dropping 10 valuable points in the process, and despite the high level of performance, Dalglish is (rightfully) not satisfied.

Liverpool heap pressure on Chelsea

Chelsea are again struck down by the curse of Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool increase the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas with a comfortable Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Stamford Bridge.

View the full story here: BBC

A news article on 2011-11-30 23:35:03 from: BBC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

So, since I'm the thinking type, and we all know I love to prognosticate (for Whimp-pact fans, that means "speculate" -- for you Sounders fans, that means "guess at what might happen"), I've been wondering just what the Whimp-pacts selection of Brian Ching in the MLS Expansion Draft could mean for our organization going forward.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool Premier League 20th November 2011

Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea side suffered their third defeat in four league games on Sunday afternoon, this time courtesy of a 2-1 loss to Liverpool.

Picture tells a THOUSAND words....Decent first half defensive display by the Lions until the sucker punch that came in the 42nd minute to see the well placed grounder by Yu Hai (pictured below foreground) to give the Chinese the headstart before end of the first period.
As what they always said in football that conceding a goal at this juncture of any game would have a psychological demoralizing effect on team that conceded that goal.

For six long years it has irked me. Long days and longer nights pondering just what had happened that fateful day and would the mystery every be solved. I am not afraid to admit it left me discombobulated at every turn. No longer, though. The news is out. The children can smile again.

For we are told that our former hero Lauren (Ralph) has been reunited with his £6,000 Rolex watch stolen in a burglary during his time at Highbury.

EXCLUSIVE: Sports boffin claims he can cure England's penalty shoot-out curse

Dr Paul Hurrion has tested his new software on none other than Cristiano Ronaldo

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-11-08 22:00:10 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

It was rough being a Sounder's fan last night. Amidst discussions of a CONCACAF Champions League curse, playing at altitude and missing one of their best players of the season in Mauro Rosales, the Sounders had a tough playoff matchup against Real Salt Lake. While most fans would have been surprised if the Sounders had come away with a first leg lead, going down 3-0 was a bit of a shock.

Two leg aggregate series in the MLS Playoffs favor the team with fewer games played. This has become known around MLS media circles as the "Curse of the CCL." But Real Salt Lake shouldn't take any solace in the fact that they've played fewer games. Their First XI has played in 313 more minutes than the likely lineup put forward by the Seattle Sounders.

7:1 win vs Adelaide last night. Oh yes oh yes oh yes. Ra ra ra. We actually are the best in the World and everyone else is, slowly but surely, learning to live with it.
The question being repeated everywhere is, how come only eleven and a half thousand people saw one of the greatest football spectacles we might expect to see in club football?

Goals:
Bellamy 45+1'
Holt 60'
Like watching a replay of the season opener against Sunderland.
At Anfield? Check. Failure to convert multiple first half chances? Check. First-half goal? Check. Early second-half equalizer? Check. Increasingly frustrated and increasingly impatient?

I've never been the greatest fan of Dirk Kuyt, and I've written several articles over the years highlighting 'the curse of the barren spell' that seems to affect him every season. However, as he approaches his 250th game for Liverpool, his impact at the club over the last 5 years cannot be denied, expecially when it comes to his creative return.

As I sat there on Saturday 3-0 up against Everton everything was going right for us in a game that normally causes us problems. I was enjoying the fact that we had got rid of this six year curse Everton had placed over us and was looking forward to the final whistle when yes you've guessed it, THEY SCORED!

As I sat there on Saturday 3-0 up against Everton everything was going right for us in a game that normally causes us problems. I was enjoying the fact that we had got rid of this six year curse Everton had placed over us and was looking forward to the final whistle when yes you've guessed it, THEY SCORED!

[Editor's note: This was written by our regular reader/commenter Orion, who helped us get through a little lull in the action with this fine blog. Thanks for his help.]

First off, some news update. Koscielny and Djourou are back in the fore and available for the match against Sunderland. So is Squillaci, defying the injury gods and hopeful predictions by most Arsenal fans that his injury would keep him out until his contract runs out.

Since LA clinched the Supporters' Shield, there's been a lot of chatter about the "Curse of the Shield". Namely, that teams who finish the season with the best record and are poised to take the MLS Cup don't. The stats speak toward this being true:only one third (5/15) of our league's past Shield winners have gone on to win a second piece of hardware in the same season.

There are those with a "superstitious" edge claiming that VILLAREAL has a "curse" on the Number 9 - forward - position. This has been heightened by the injury to ROSSI who has injured himself while training with the Italian National Team. This leaves Villareal without a true forward. The other two forwards in the side Marcos Ruben ( out 15 days ) & Nilmar ( knee operation out 2 months) have also

How's your luck? Jack Wilshere will be sidelined for up to five months after an op to fix a fracture to his right ankle. Another Arsenal player out injured for a lengthy period. Isn't it time we drafted in some sort of witch doctor to treat our players or perhaps try to lift the curse of the crocked?

Just when you thought the injury curse at Arsenal was easing Jack Wilshere has revealed he will be out until Christmas at least. It was all so different a few days ago, when the signs were actually looking good for a change. On Tuesday Wilshere wrote on his twitter page, "Good day at football today! [.

Woot! Woot!

All aboard! And away we go.... (yes, you'll see this image a few more times this year.)

All aboard the Perlaza MEGABUS!

Three matches all with playoff implication.

FC Vollkswagen vs. FC Corona as Charlie Davies, DeRo and friends (minus Pontius) hope that games-in-hand are a blessing not a curse down the stretch.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Union

In this week's power rankings roundup, the Philadelphia Union leap four spots from no. 10 to sixth at MLSsoccer.com. They jump three spots to no. 6 at SBI and at Soccer America. The Union move up two spots to sixth at WV Hooligan. At ESPN, the Union move up two spots to ninth.

The Philly Soccer Page " Pfeffer & Langley legitimize Union local ties

Philadelphia Union's development system took a giant leap forward Saturday night.

WINNING " Unholy Union – The fan blog for Phi. Union

I've made note of this before, some banners in the River End have been missing since July, one in which was Charlie Sheen.

Union

What's that feeling I have? It's a familiar feeling but one I haven't felt for a long time...a general sense of well-being and good will mixed in with a sense of purpose and forward-looking confidence...I've got it—it's the feeling of victory. Welcome back, old friend.

Peter Nowak said of the Philadelphia Union's win over Columbus, "We came back to the mentality we had in the beginning of the season.

Have scum put a curse on the Emirates?

I was told this story some time ago but have never passed it on because, well, frankly, I didn't give it much credence.

It came from a relative who worked on the demolition of Highbury and the construction of the Emirates.

He is not a football fan and has no axe to grind as far as the Arsenal is concerned.

Poor start, poor ref, four nil – a day to forget for Liverpool

Liverpool lost 4-0 away to Spurs, the White Hart Lane curse continuing as the Anfield side ended the game with nine men. At least now we know why Steve Clark refuses to give Kenny a game in training when numbers aren't even; he's preparing them for days like this – and still has preparation to do.

Gameweek 5 gives us yet another batch of Fantasy Football excitement as ManU and Chelsea go against each other in English Premier League. Before we get to that, though, let's see what went on in GW 4.
Fantasy Premier League once again showed us, that having player from a team that has a lot of great players is not only a blessing but a curse for players of Premier league fantasy football.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution broke the curse tonight against FC Dallas, carrying a first-half lead all the way through and seeing it out to pick up their first win since July, and their first at home since May. The captain Shalrie Joseph and Rajko Lekic scored en route to the 2-0 victory.

By Alan Duffy

According to The Mirror, Jack Wilshere may not kick a ball in anger for Arsenal until December. The young England schemer has yet to play a competitive game for the Gunners this season after injuring himself in pre-season and is currently forced to wear a surgical boot.

It's not the indecent amounts of cash swilling around the game, or that we're all now at Sky's beck and call. Not obscene ticket prices, not even the player's loyalty to the one thing that truly matters, their bank account. No, I've discovered what's crucifying football 5-0 victories. Absolutely fatal.

A.On Facebook, Fox Soccer just asked "What EPL stadium would you most like to visit?" My answer, Craven Cottage of course. A sampling of some other answers:
1. Ibrox
2. Wembley Stadium
3. Estadio De Luz
Granted, Facebook is not my go to source for soccer knowledge, but come on people!

STARTERS
The curse is over! Dallas has done it! It's the first MLS team to ever win a game in Mexico! Oh yeah oh yeah! It only took 25 tries! But its over!
dN
Clint Dempsey scored twice for Fulham as they won in the Europa League today. Nice.
dN
9 Americans played in the Europa League today.

In the most predictable news of this season (or indeed any of the last five seasons), Fabio Aurelio is injured *again*, which means he's now spent over 50% of his Liverpool career on the treatment table.
Let's take a look at the facts:
Oct 2006 - Injured: Out for 1 month
Jan 2007 - Injured: Out for 6 weeks
Apr 2007 - Injured: Achilles tendon.

There is, perhaps, no other non-league club that sums up the cycle of perpetual crisis in which so many smaller football clubs find themselves than Northwich Victoria, and there can seldom be a day that goes by during which supporters of the seemingly perpetually beleagured Northern Premier League club don't curse the decision to leave their historic home, The Drill Field, for The Victoria Stadium.

New first team squad numbers are out.

The curse of the 'proper' numbers continues, as John Arne Riise vacates the number seven shirt recently not worn by Seol, Andranik, and... who had it last year (ed. Sidwell)? In any case, such a prestigious number needs an equally prestigious owner, and Fulham simply haven't come up with one.

Walter White would understand it at least. He knows all about the the curse of wanting more, that however much you have, it's just never enough. Yes, Spurs' player of the year for 2010-11 Luka Modric, now reminds me of the meth cooking protagonist of AMC's Breaking Bad (returning on Sunday for season 4).

Manchester City And The Dubious Pleasures Of Gael Clichy - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

So to be a top team you need attacking fullbacks. This is not just general opinion but to a degree in the modern game it is quite literally a must have. In a time of wingers who cut inside and trequartistas who have far greater mobility,fullbacks provide the width for these players to operate.