For all the crisis talk, it hasn't been a bad fortnight for Arsenal. At half time against Villa, we were staring down the barrel of a fourth successive defeat, and an early exit from a competition that was beginning to open up thanks to some high profile ties that we had managed to avoid. Since then, we have seen actual mental strength (as opposed to the professed type that leaves us scratching our heads in disbelief) in that comeback win, a match against Bolton which, while frustrating from a result point of view, was a sharp improvement in performance on those that had come before, and a thumping seven goal win over a Blackburn side that inflicted perhaps our most painful defeat of the season back in September (yes, I count that 4-3 loss as worse than the United hammering).

The Flowers of Manchester - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Daniele (from Red Rants) has a written a moving piece on the Munich disaster here's an extract:

Sam couldn't have been more focused if he had been watching a movie, so I moved on: "Harry Gregg, United's keeper, had been thrown out the cabin after the impact along with Bobby Charlton.

The Philadelphia Union announced what Sebastien Le Toux already told us: The team's all-time leading everything has been traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps for allocation money.

Reaction to the news has been met with disbelief, scorn, whatever tears look like on twitter, and more disbelief.

See Tim Carr's PSP piece, and our earlier piece on how news of the trade leaked out for more information.

Understandably, none of our regular authors were inclined to write a match report following yesterday's game, so you will all have to suffer the thoughts of someone who will I'm sure, not be expressing the mainstream opinion on this site.

I couldn't go to the game as I had to work. I followed the live commentary on BBC Sport football, listened to the radio phone in on my way home and watched the lowlights on MotD through the lattice of my fingers clamped to my face.

Wow what a comeback!! Espanyol scored three goals in four minutes to snatch a dramatic 3-2 comeback win at home to third-tier Mirandes in a King's Cup quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.

Mirandes have been the Cinderella team of this years tournament, having already knocked out La Liga sides Villarreal and Racing Santander in the early rounds.

If ever there was a match made in Heaven in the footballing world, it would have to be between Arsenal and Thierry Henry, who have found each other again after a five-year absence, with the magic the same as it ever was.

It was an otherwise drab encounter, with little to get excited about as a makeshift Arsenal team struggled to break down a determined and dogged Leeds side coming with only one intention a lucrative replay.

One of the lasting benefits of watching soccer (football or whatever you want to call it) is how it never ceases to surprise and just when you think you've got it all figured out, everything changes. Such was the nature of today's FA Cup Third Round match between Premier League Leaders Man City and their closest rivals Manchester United.

THE KING IS BACK... oh yeah, we also play some team this weekend.

Credit to @BeardedGenius for the picture.

By now you've heard the rumors. Read the Twitters, Sky Sports, and your old ma. Believed it straight away, or looked at the screen in disbelief, yelling obscenities, assured that Wenger took the easy way out, refusing to take a gamble on some multi-million euro German hunk.

I shook my head in disbelief when I read an interview with Florent Malouda featured in The Telegraph. Malouda, who has struggled to reach anywhere his best form for two seasons now is quoted as saying:

"I'm not getting enough playing time, It's too limited for the ambitions I have.

Happy Boxing Day! To start off this marvelous day, here's Mario Balotelli's specially designed Christmas cake complete with an evil looking Santa Claus (is that a knife on good ol' Noel Noel?!) You see, Manchester City came up with a pretty brilliant idea where they got players to compete for the title of 'Best Christmas Cake Decorator'.

Ha ha. What crisis?

Playing the league's bottom team at a time like this was always likely to be one of those tricky games. On the one hand, you would rather be playing a bad team than a good one; on the other, lose this one... doesn't bear thinking about.

Anyway, it didn't happen, owing to two marvellous goals involving Bryan Ruiz's wand of a left foot.

Article by Pedro Gomes [Editor's Note: FY = Fiscal Year]
On December 12, Soccer Insider Steven Goff dropped a budgetary bombshell on the soccer world. He revealed an inside look into the United States Soccer Federations's Budget for FY'13. No one knows exactly how this journalistic wizard came to this information and quite honestly I don't think many cared because its juicy details lit the Twitter Sphere ablaze with questions, comments, excitement, and disbelief.

Phil Jones managed to make us all feel rather old this week when revealing he was still in primary school during the 2002 World Cup. Danny Welbeck has helped rubbed it in further by letting on just how young he was when Ryan Giggs scored that incredible goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final in 1999.

Phil Jones managed to make us all feel rather old this week when revealing he was still in primary school during the 2002 World Cup. Danny Welbeck has helped rubbed it in further by letting on just how young he was when Ryan Giggs scored that incredible goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final in 1999.

Amidst the eulogies for the veteran disc-jockey, showbiz star and champion charity fund-raiser, Sir Jimmy Savile, who died at the end of October at the age of 84, there was little mention of one small, largely forgotten but rather touching charitable stunt that he performed which is worth remembering if you are a Manchester United supporter.

Dalglish not ready to class Carroll and Suárez among Liverpool greats

• The more they play together the better they'll get, says Dalglish • Paul Scharner accuses Luis Suárez of diving for a penalty Kenny Dalglish was just finishing his press duties, satisfied that he had praised the way that Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez had linked up while at the same time avoiding the slip of the tongue that would make for a nice headline, when he was asked if the pair could develop into one of the best partnerships.

Robin van Persie now has nine goals in five matches.

Mindblowingly awesome.

I speak of course of the massive and totally unexpected Arsenal 5-3 away victory over Chelsea on Saturday. Chelsea had not lost a game at home this season. Arsenal found itself racking up its worst string of away results since 500 B.

By Alan Duffy

It's a rather interesting time for The Sun to be pointing the finger at others in football, isn't it? However, as a bastion of morality, the newspaper gives us a couple of photos from the recent Sheffield derby which are apparently supposed to have us shaking our heads in disbelief at the state of the nation and the beautiful game.

As the game wound to a close, I was toying with an opening line for a reaction post, something along the lines of: "These two teams could play for 90 days instead of 90 minutes and never find the damn net."
So imagine my surprise when a late whistle finally answered a United attacker flinging himself to the ground in the box.

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NOTE TO CHELSEA: STAY AWAY!!
- Chelsea Looking to Move!
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- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.

Video highlights and reaction

I think it's fair to say that when things are going badly for a football club, any bits of luck you get seem to reflect that. If you're flying high you get the bounce and deflections, the referee's mistakes work in your favour, and the opponents end up injured.

A Return to Winning Ways | Liverpool 2 – 1 Wolves

AnfieldIndex Liverpool FC Stats | Liverpool FC Blog | Liverpool FC Forum The way you feel at the final whistle usually best encapsulates the performance your team has given that day. After Sunderland there was frustration, Arsenal optimism, Bolton euphoria, Stoke disbelief at how we hadn't won, and depression at Spurs.

PETALING JAYA:

He is set to enjoy a two-week trial with Welsh outfit Cardiff City and join the handful of local footballers, including the likes of Baddrol Bakhtiar (Chelsea) and Akmal Rizal Rakhli (RC Strasbourg, FCSR Haguenau), to enjoy stints abroad.

Safee has been inspirational for Harimau Malaya since the Asean Cup victory last year.

GI embarks upon an epic quest to broaden your football knowledge, sharing with you a fine array of surprising facts from the beautiful game . You'll be gasping with amazement, shaking your head in disbelief and pinching yourself in incredulity. Only in the world of football ... Continue reading →

Ever since the Premiership was formed back in the early 1990's, there really has been only team around. Yes, I admit they've had their ups and downs with the hot-headed Ferguson dismissing anybody who crosses his path like a Scottish Henry VIII (Beckham as Anne Boleyn?) but for a ship to cruise through unsteady waters there must be a strong captain in control.

Arvind Well..that was just very very painful to watch. I watched it on mute as usual and was continuously left shaking my head in disbelief at the scoreline. We'll look at the defense of course and there's a surprise or two in store but a quick overall review of the other bits. I thought Coquelin [..

The atmosphere? Electric. The crowd? Well over 3600 hundred fans in attendance. The result? Disappointing for those home Strikers fans who were hoping for a Strikers win. FC Tampa Bay traveled to Lockhart Stadium on Saturday and came away with three crucial points. The Strikers were left in utter shock and disbelief after another loss at home.

Charlie Adam: We have a squad at Liverpool that is able to challenge

Anfield's £7m summer signing from Blackpool has learned from the mistakes his father made as a player The Wikipedia entry for Charlie Adam covers every personal detail and statistic to be expected for a Liverpool and Scotland international football player.

While we're all basking in the glow of taking one big step toward entry in the Champions League group stage, there are also a few news items to sort through, so let's get started.

First, a few folks were discussing the terms of Wenger's suspension from the touchline during yesterday's match.

Newcastle United Joey Barton has been in all of the headlines today after his scuffle with Arsenal's sent-off debutant Gervinho. The Newcastle hothead is now hitting back at his critics, saying that there is a strong case of double standards after his role in getting Gervinho sent off today at St.

After yesterday's developments with Alejandro Bedoya's work permit, it seems Rangers wasted no time with that new attempt to gather him early that I promised. Local Örebro newspaper NA has been all over this, and oddly, Rangers decided to come with a lowered bid. Naturally, ÖSK swatted it down in disbelief.

Pardon our interruption of your normal Monday morning routines, but we have an urgent update that we couldn't keep to ourselves: Leo Messi & Antonella Roccuzzo are back together.

Although the relationship status of these two has nagged us for a while, we know what you're thinking: define 'together'.

We felt like this more or less.Editor's Note: We continue a great new feature on the Free Beer Movement site. In collaboration with the quality soccer site, "The Other 87 Minutes" we present the "Tuesday XI" (and sometimes the "Tuesday Ten") a thoughtful list on a variety of topics in the world of soccer.

Date: Sunday Apr 17 2011
Ground: Wembley
Comp: FA Cup Semi Final
Match: Bolton Wanderers 0 Stoke City 5 HT: 0-3
Etherington 11, Huth 17, Jones 30, Walters 67, 80

ATT: 75,064
Additional: Entrance £34.50, Programme £5.00

Wembley in pictures

Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 7, Structures/Terracing 7, Hospitality 3, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 7
Total 24

I was very privileged to be at one of or maybe the best Stoke game in their history.

Date: Sunday Apr 17 2011
Ground: Wembley
Comp: FA Cup Semi Final
Match: Bolton Wanderers 0 Stoke City 5 HT: 0-3
Etherington 11, Huth 17, Jones 30, Walters 67, 80

ATT: 75,064
Additional: Entrance £34.50, Programme £5.00

Wembley in pictures

Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 7, Structures/Terracing 7, Hospitality 3, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 7
Total 24

I was very privileged to be at one of or maybe the best Stoke game in their history.

For days we've watched in disbelief as Ibra's gaggle of groupie friends blocked clear shot after clear shot of his exposed torso, tiny swim trunks everything!

As you can see, we've been given very little to work with.

Internal Kickette speculation as to why we can't get a better Z-on-holiday snap is rife, and the consensus is that it's because the 'ballers on breaks Gods have a bone to pick with us about our latest Finest Five refresh.

If you can't decide whether to be thankful there was at least a point earned or whether you should be screaming obscenities to the heavens, you're not alone. The answer, of course, is that you should be doing both in equal measure.
Welcome to DC United 2011: Back to the Mean. Ugh.
Some quick thoughts before I settle in for the Gold Cup final.

Cheryl and Ashley Cole in happier times. Image via rex features

Those of you lucky enough to have a subscription to the News Of The World's online edition will surely still be rubbing your eyes in disbelief after seeing the world exclusive the paper carried last Sunday. According to the headline, Cheryl Cole, former wife of Chelsea's Ashley had brought new meaning to the word 'forgiving' by moving back in with the gun totin' left back.

Our votes in this most storied of categories were split evenly and many of the usual characters cropped up. Grant Holt, so hearteningly wonderful in this year of Canary yellow, will be looking back on his days as a definitive journeyman and Singapore leaguer with disbelief and Scott Sinclair's play off heroics confirmed an ability to link wideside flair with end product.

"Just don't pass. Just don't pass. Just don't pass."
Few would have guessed that yet another mediocre Alen Stevanovic performance would have been the catalyst for a recall to parent-club Torino. Yet, when the enigmatic Swiss-Serb was subbed off against Seattle in the 2nd Half yesterday, he was leaving the BMO Field pitch for the last time.