I mentioned in my last post, from a few weeks ago, that I recently became the proud parent of twins. As they approach eight weeks of age I've slowly realized how completely they have changed my life. Add to that the normal ebb and flow of life and my passion for posting to this blog has diminished. Click to continue reading...

Some common themes developing in the post-match interview - concentration and the lack of ability to close games out in particular:

"First half we never really imposed ourselves as I know we can and conceded two poor goals. But then we picked ourselves up and showed some of the qualities I expected from the start.

Click to continue reading...

No matter what happens from now until the end of the season, and whether we finish in the top 4 or not, there are a number of recent transfer deals that bother me greatly - signings, sales or missed opportunities that could've improved our squad and afforded us more depth than we currently have.
The deals relevant to last season may even have turned some of those nagging draws in wins, maybe giving us enough points to have snatched the title from Man Ure. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres has undergone tests at a private hospital as Liverpool look to find a cure for their talisman's groin injury.
The Anfield hierarchy are desperate for their Spain striker to avoid surgery as they attempt to put Liverpool's season back on track after six defeats in eight games. Click to continue reading...

With nine coaches in six years, no trophies since 1996 and 'encouragement' from extreme-right ultras Frente Atlético, what crisis will hit the club next?
Are 'madhouse' Atlético Madrid the worst run club in Europe? Click to continue reading...

White Hart Lane boss plans to raid Old Trafford for England man.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is planning a summer raid for troubled Rio Ferdinand, who has endured a torrid two months for club and country.

The Manchester United defender could even be left out of the team against Blackburn
tomorrow after being given the run-around by Fernando Torres in last Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool.

Click to continue reading...

The pressure cooker of life is slowly grinding people down, sites like this provide people with a light relief from what we see as the burden of everyday life. Sports professionals are no different with an ever increasing demand placed upon their minds and bodies, is it any wonder then we see burn out occurring all the time.

Click to continue reading...

Middlesbrough's vastly improved performance in their unfortunate 2-2 draw with Preston yesterday, capped by a brilliant Adam Johnson goal, will provide encouragement for the man openly touted to be unveiled as their new manager tomorrow, Gordon Strachan.For a man who will ever be associated with the red shirt of Manchester United, Strachan's playing career was perhaps most significant at its Click to continue reading...

�

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Charlie Davies continues to show signs of improvement and make significant progress this week as he took his first steps since the fatal car accident that left him with multiple broken bones.

Davies underwent surgery this week on his fractured elbow as well as to stabilize facial fractures.

Click to continue reading...

�

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Charlie Davies continues to show signs of improvement and make significant progress this week as he took his first steps since the fatal car accident that left him with multiple broken bones.

Davies underwent surgery this week on his fractured elbow as well as to stabilize facial fractures.

Click to continue reading...

Assigning points to games is a trait shared by all football supporters. You know the scenario: sitting down with a pen and a list of your team's forthcoming fixtures and coming up with a final points tally. If the accusation of unrealistic ambitions is a fair one, Spurs fans do this more than most.

Trying to be objective is not always easy (‘we're due a draw at Old Trafford, so I'm putting a point for that one') but a glance at Tottenham's next few Premier League games does give cause for encouragement.

Click to continue reading...

So where were you when the ManUre Man City derby was on?
I was not able to watch the match unfortunately, due to having to other very important things to do.
Whilst others were no doubt sitting relaxed with their feet up, maybe sipping a lager and eliciting the odd cry of frustration or encouragement, I was in the shed with my lover. Click to continue reading...

Lucas Leiva is a bit of an enigma really. He was brought to the club as "the best young Brazilian around" for a fee of £6m, which is quite a lot of money. He played a few times for the reserves, and did OK. He has always been on the fringes of the first team, much to most fans annoyance. His performances for The Reds up to February last season were not of Liverpool quality, and the fans had got on his back. Click to continue reading...

So we had our first test today and many might say we failed. But did we?

Sure, we lost the match, but the luck we have enjoyed so far this season wasn't on our side. VP smashed the bar, we had two clear penalties denied (the foul and the hand ball all in one) denied, and we were beaten by a penalty (which differed from Eduardo's by a matter of millimetres and Rooney was going down contact or not), an own goal, and a as-usual incompetent display from Mike Dean who sent Wenger off in the 95th minute and then held up play for three minutes while he made sure Wenger was far enough away from the dug-put.

Click to continue reading...

Back in March, shortly after Arsenal's acquisition of Andrei Arshavin, we wrote of the embarrassment of striking riches at their disposal. Back then we forecast they'd sell Adebayor, and if the money was used correctly, this season

"could be the Arsenal renaissance"

Then again, when we gave Andrei Arshavin the 'Player of the Second Half of the Season' we said:

"Arsenal will be a force to be reckoned with next season"

So we've already stuck our necks out, predicted Arsenal would do well, would surprise those who claimed theyd drop from the top four, and in fact, at around 10/1, were an outstanding bet for the title:

"Starting with one of the more controversial ones.

Click to continue reading...

Liverpool have made a cheeky enquiry about Aston Villa's young star James Milner.
Anfield boss Rafa Benitez is a big admirer of the emerging England winger but has received little in the way of encouragement.
Milner cost Villa £12million from Newcastle last August and has three years left on his contract. Click to continue reading...

Rafa is known to be an admirer

LIVERPOOL have made a cheeky enquiry about Aston Villa's young star James Milner.
Anfield boss Rafa Benitez is a big admirer of the emerging England winger but has received little in the way of encouragement.

Milner cost Villa £12million from Newcastle last August and has three years left on his contract.

Click to continue reading...

It was always going to happen sooner or later!

Manchester City expect to have Joleon Lescott playing for them in time for the big kick-off on Saturday, taking Mark Hughes' spending this summer past £100million.
City believe their final offer of £20m plus add-ons for the England defender will be accepted by Everton, who remain unhappy with their North West rivals.

Click to continue reading...

Okay, the honest truth is that we lost. It hurts, and it hurt all the way back on the four hour journey from Chelmsford to Bath. BUT, City fans can take a lot of encouragement from today's match.
Before I begin my description of today's match, I first want to outline what I will be doing on the blog for the next few days. Click to continue reading...

One of my Online Soccer Academy players, Carsten Murgas from the greater Chicago area, proves that when you "Believe in it" anything is possible!� His Dad recently emailed me some awesome pictures with a few words about how Carsten and his team "Believe in it".

-

Jared,

Here are a few pix and funny cartoon of Carsten playing 3 v 3.

Click to continue reading...

The Independent this morning suggests we could well try again for John Terry, raising our offer to £40 million pounds and making him the first £300,000 a week footballer:

Manchester City's pursuit of John Terry is not over and they are now considering increasing the pressure on Chelsea with a second bid for the England captain in excess of the £30m deal that was rejected on Thursday night.

Click to continue reading...

Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic is definitely one of the best centre-backs in the world at the moment and he was linked with a number of big European clubs lately. Nevertheless, he stayed loyal to the Old Trafford outfit, having rejected offers from Barcelona, Milan and Real and was rewarded for his loyalty by Sir Alex with a new contract.

Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's expected signing of Glen Johnson is likely to increase the pressure from Javier Mascherano for a substantial wage increase as Barcelona hope to exploit the player's unhappiness at Anfield.
Mascherano, despite his importance to Rafa Benitez's side, currently remains one of the lowest paid first team players on Liverpool's books on £25,000 a week and the player is demanding closer parity to other high earners at the club such as Fernando Torres, who is paid over three times that amount. Click to continue reading...

Now don't think that a little bit of constructive criticism is going to dampen my desire to see this team turn things around!

Here is a great opportunity to check out your Red Bulls in an intimate setting, as they are opening up practice to the public this Wednesday as part of the lead up to the Portuguese Day Festival in Newark.

Click to continue reading...

Wednesday night's Saprissa Massacre has to be considered one of the lowest points for the U.S. National Team since returning to the World Cup in 1990, and instead of dissecting that game and breaking down the various reasons for the loss and the various mistakes made by Bob Bradley and his squad, I want to point out that the U.

Click to continue reading...

Nearly five weeks have passed since the end of the season, and no confirmed prospects of change have been announced by the club. Publicly, it appears as if the club has gone into hibernation, and whilst some supporters have taken to prodding the stands to check for signs of life, privately we are assured the wheels have been turning.

Click to continue reading...

Galaxy 1 New York 0

The Galaxy prevailed for their first win of the season, not because they were better than New York, but because the Red Bulls were more inept than them.

Landon Donovan was again the difference for the Galaxy, having a hand (or at least a New York hand) in the winner from the penalty spot after Seth Stammler handled in the area.

Click to continue reading...

Expanding a little on what Kenn and I talked about in the podcast.
That podcast is of course Four at the Back, starring him and me. And Kenn had to work extra hard to edit this week's show, because I was all over the freaking place. Gonna have to do a separate post on the big Abby & Briana v. Click to continue reading...

I love Arsene Wenger.
Want to know why?
A few years ago I had a difficult work experience. Following that I made a resolution that if ever I was in a leadership position, I would seek to get the best out of people through encouragement, coaching, kindness and expressed belief. Click to continue reading...

MYSA College Recruiting Talk: Sunday, May 10, 2009
In an effort to offer encouragement and guidance to college-hopeful players and their families, MYSA will present a College Recruiting Talk in association with the 2009 State Cup. This informational program is open to all U14–19 players and parents who wish to learn more about the college recruiting process, including strategies, timelines, admissions, scholarships and financial aid.

Click to continue reading...

MYSA College Recruiting Talk: Sunday, May 10, 2009
In an effort to offer encouragement and guidance to college-hopeful players and their families, MYSA will present a College Recruiting Talk in association with the 2009 State Cup. This informational program is open to all U14–19 players and parents who wish to learn more about the college recruiting process, including strategies, timelines, admissions, scholarships and financial aid.

Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benítez insisted Liverpool would return to their Premier League title challenge with renewed self-belief after taking pride and encouragement from their Champions League exit at Chelsea last night.
The Liverpool manager admitted "one or two mistakes" says we undermined his team's remarkable recovery at Stamford Bridge, with Jose Reina caught out at his near post for Chelsea's opening goal, but was in no mood for recriminations following a performance that took Guus Hiddink's team to the wire despite trailing 3–1 from the first leg. Click to continue reading...

The sun is shining. The preparations have been perfect. A couple of weeks break, before a few weeks training sessions, all in high spirits. Ordinary staff will become servants for a few weeks, as people will probably kill everyone in the room if you simply asked. You arrive with scores of people with nothing but encouragement for you. Click to continue reading...

West Ham wins at home against Newcastle and that's good news for newly arrived manager Gianfranco Zola.  Zola was simply beaming with encouragement and praise for his players who helped secure his first home win as manager at the London club. See what else he has to say during the post-match interview. Click to continue reading...

West Ham wins at home against Newcastle and that's good news for newly arrived manager Gianfranco Zola.  Zola was simply beaming with encouragement and praise for his players who helped secure his first home win as manager at the London club. See what else he has to say during the post-match interview. Click to continue reading...