By Richard Nash

Tottenham's victory over Everton last week left them level on points with Manchester United and three points off league leaders Man City, confirming their position as genuine title rivals to the Manchester clubs. Much has been made of the additions of Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor as a reason for the club's success, but the biggest change since last season has been the use of their wingers, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon.

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World Cup season has officially started with teams throwing in their hats to get a chance at a series of qualifying rounds for the mundial in Brazil. However, as footballers fight for a chance to compete and fans slowly build their savings accounts for the trip in 2014, many of Brazil's host cities have yet to prepare for the incredible horde preparing to descend on them.

• Niklas Wildhagen recalled his traumatic experience, when Otto Rehagel left Bremen for Bayern. (Regista)
• Jonny Eyres looked at how Bundesliga promotion hopefuls Fortuna Düsseldorf slowly worked their way back up the divisions. (http://inbedwithmaradona.com/journal/2011/10/13/soldiers-ofthis-is-fortuna-dusseldorf.

Sir Alex Ferguson: Wayne Rooney could miss 'weeks' - ESPN Soccernet Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Wayne Rooney could miss "a few weeks" of Manchester United's season. United served up a surprise at Stoke on Saturday, as they arrived at the Britannia Stadium without their star man. Ferguson told ESPN after the 1-1 draw that the club had endured a "nightmare" training session on Friday.

We're as suprised as anyone. Hatem Ben Arfa set to return to action for Newcastle - ESPN Soccernet Hatem Ben Arfa will finally return to the Newcastle side almost a year after suffering a double leg break against Manchester City. ...Now he will pull on the black and white shirt on Wednesday night as Newcastle travel to struggling Championship side Nottingham Forest in the Carling Cup.

Premier League team news - ESPN Soccernet: Here is the important news from behind the link along with the fantasy implications that the news implies: Arsenal Song and Gervinho are back from suspension which means a few things: 1) Frimpong and Arshavin will almost definitely head to the bench; 2) The defense will be better with Song in front of Mertesacker and Koscielny (and Rovers doing

Premier League team news - ESPN Soccernet: There are a fair number of interesting line-up machinations related to injuries, suspensions, and transfers. For all of the fantasy implications for this weekend, here is everything you need to know: Aston Villa: Looks like Gabby and Heskey are very likely to be healthy for the match against Wolves.

• Ansgar Löcke recounts his trip to Hanover's first round DFB-Pokal match. (Bundesliga Fanatic)
• Deutsche Welle takes a look at overlooked late blooming Augsburg striker Sascha Mölders. (Deutsche Welle)
• Martyn Fisher wrote a fresh batch of tactical match reports of Bundesliga matches.

• Ansgar Löcke recounts his trip to Hanover's first round DFB-Pokal match. (Bundesliga Fanatic)
• Deutsche Welle takes a look at overlooked late blooming Augsburg striker Sascha Mölders. (Deutsche Welle)
• Martyn Fisher wrote a fresh batch of tactical match reports of Bundesliga matches.

ESPN Soccernet - On The Move: "20.40: Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku has confirmed he will be having his Chelsea medical tomorrow. Just to recap: the clubs have agreed a fee, but he's still to pass his medical or agree personal terms (although reports in Belgium on Friday suggested he may have already agreed terms).

ESPN Soccernet is reporting that Turkish National team manager and former Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has told Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich what everyone else has been saying all along: Stability is the key to winning. Abramovich, who has hired...
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Man City complete deal for Savic from Partizan - ESPN Soccernet Savic, a center back with the speed and athleticism to play right back, is only 20 and would seem to be one for the future. That being said, the only players between him and first team spot are Kompany, Lescott, Toure (when not banned), Boyata, Richards, Boateng and Zabaleta.

Quick Post-Match Reax: Same Old Song, As United Loses Another Lead (this time against Philly) - Black And Red United
The general reaction tonight is simple: Meet the new D.C. United, same as the old D.C. United.

Chemistry has Ruiz proving his worth to Union | CSN Philly

When Carlos Ruiz was inked in late February, Peter Nowak and the Union wanted a finisher.

ESPN Soccernet - On the Move - Love for Leighton15.11 South Korea international Ji Dong-won has become Sunderland's second signing in as many days after completing his move from Chunnam Dragons. I don't know much, if anything, about him but I do know that Sunderland need forwards and I'm going to love the nickname (which I should since I just gave it to him - hopefully no one beat me to the punch

So over the past couple of months, things have maybe gotten a bit hostile on the football blog scene.
I apparently played a part.
A while ago, a certain writer well known to most of you from the entertaining blog Surreal Football, wrote a piece on ESPN Soccernet about the new tactics snobbery.

It's been too long. Not since the last World Cup have my always accurate and enlightening Player Grades graced these pages. Allow me to briefly explain: I take the NYTimes Goal blog and ESPN Soccernet grades as a baseline, and then use a highly complex algorithm to merge them to arrive at perfectly accurate ratings.

ESPN Soccernet - On The Move15.31 We're hearing that Gervinho's move to Arsenal in a £10.5 million deal from Lille is all but a done deal. Confirmation imminent.With the news that Gervinho is extremely likely to arrive at The Emirates, here are some quick thoughts. The PlayerMy expectations range from "good" to "very good" as a player.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Tottenham have not made any contract with Napoli about striker Ezequiel Lavezzi. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentii told Radio Marte,

"Lavezzi? I have never spoken to Tottenham .

• Rule the curve, rule the club? (Deutsche Welle)
• Hamburg 2011/2012: Young Fresh and New. (Deutsche Welle)
• Plenty of goals and humbas to enjoy during a Bundesliga season. (ESPN Soccernet)
• Deutsche Welle's Kick Off travels to the heart of German football to meet old people.

Berbatov battles Tevez, again. Premier League team news - ESPN Soccernet Of course it may all be irrelevant due to the inconvenient timing of "the Rapture" but if we manage to avoid the end of days on Saturday, we will indeed have a final day of the season on Sunday. Honestly, as I looked at the content behind the link above, I don't think I saw anything that moved me to make a change.

• Augsburg looking forward to its' first and last Bundesliga season? (Deutsche Welle)
• The best place for a soy bratwurst in the Bundesliga. (The Local)
• Some fresh Bundesliga kits to thumb up or down. (DBUK)
• And some 2. Bundesliga kits for good measure. (DBUK)
• The tactics behind Hertha's Bundesliga promotion.

This fantastic article was on the front of ESPN Soccernet today. The title, "Liverpool hoping for Asian tonic", is supremely underwhelming, as it attempts to tie in Liverpool's current form, Manchester United and the Big Four, Asian academies, sponsorship, Barcelona's visit, and selling shirts.
To be honest, the opportunities and current situation of Asian football do encompass all those things, and many more.

"This is definitely a battle that is being fought in the mind. Without a shadow of a doubt." Dan Mason, ESPN Soccernet Podcast, April 25, 2011

"Tomorrow at 8:45 we will play a match on the field. Outside of the field, he has won the entire year, the entire season and in the future (it will be the same).

According to ESPN Soccernet, West Bromwich boss Roy Hodgson admitted that he would like to make several signings this summer. Hodgson said,

"I think we need to make some improvements to the squad if we do stay up. We need to be looking very carefully at how we are going to improve this squad .

Here we go again with Serie A Weekly giving you a list of five stories to read this lunchtime that we have seen from around the web and enjoyed ourselves. Many of these will be about Italian football of course but there is always room for something different and those will be here too. Take a look at our recommendations, pass them on and be sure to leave a comment on these great articles.

Here we go again with Serie A Weekly giving you a list of five stories to read this lunchtime that we have seen from around the web and enjoyed ourselves. Many of these will be about Italian football of course but there is always room for something different and those will be here too. Take a look at our recommendations, pass them on and be sure to leave a comment on these great articles.

Blow for Wales as Gareth Bale ruled out of England clash - ESPN Soccernet Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has been ruled out of Wales' Euro 2012 qualifier against England on Saturday with a hamstring injury. Bale did not train on Wednesday, despite reports that he was injured during a session, and he has only recently returned from a back injury that kept him out for six weeks from the end of

According to ESPN Soccernet, Chelsea are close to agreeing to a deal with Sao Paulo for wonder kid Lucas Piazon when he turns 18 years of age. It is reported that the deal could be between £5 and £8million.

Piazon, who has been labeled the next Kaka, also drew heavy interest from Juventus.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Schalke confirmed that Manchester United have interest in 24-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Chairman Clemens Tonnies told Bild,

"An international consultant has approached me and informed me that Manchester United are interested in Neuer .

According to ESPN Soccernet, Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri will not have contract talks with the club until after the season. Nasri told Sport,

"We promised each other to speak about this subject after the season ends ... One of the reasons I came to Arsenal was to win titles and I'm not expecting to leave without one .

It doesn't really matter about the rain The Off The Post Podcast is much like the Olympic Stadium: it causes controversy in footballing circles, whether or not it has a positive legacy remains to be seen, and Karren Brady is a big fan of it.* *not strictly true. This week's pod may not have retractable [.

Very pleased to talk with Gary Al-Smith this episode a West African football analyst and regular contributor to ESPN soccernet. Kevin asks Gary on African player development and their influence in the world of football plus the situation of academies in West Africa. While Adam puts Gary on the hot seat with questions from the listening audience.

Considered by many the best soccer available, the European Champions League tournament returns today with the Round of 16 1st leg. There are two games, both available on Fox Soccer Channel.

1:45 pm AC Milan hosts Tottenham Hotspur
5:00 pm Valencia hosts Schalke (delayed)

Tomorrow's games include

1:45 pm Arsenal hosts Barcelona
4:00 pm Roma hosts Shakhtar Donetsk

Check out the latest news on the UEFA website, my go-to source, the Guardian or ESPN Soccernet

Considered by many the best soccer available, the European Champions League tournament returns today with the Round of 16 1st leg. There are two games, both available on Fox Soccer Channel.

1:45 pm AC Milan hosts Tottenham Hotspur
5:00 pm Valencia hosts Schalke (delayed)

Tomorrow's games include

1:45 pm Arsenal hosts Barcelona
4:00 pm Roma hosts Shakhtar Donetsk

Check out the latest news on the UEFA website, my go-to source, the Guardian or ESPN Soccernet

According to ESPN Soccernet, Real Madrid have denied the rumor that they have made an offer for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Faabregas. Director general Jorge Valdano told Canal+,

"We never made an offer for him [Fabregas] and we haven't spoken with Arsenal either .

According to ESPN Soccernet, Blackpool defender Neal Eardley expects his teammate Charlie Adam to move onto a bigger club this summer. Eardley said,

"Charlie played a massive part in us getting promoted ... I think he scored 19 goals last season from midfield, which is excellent, and he has proved again this season what a massive player he is for us.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Liverpool held talks with Athletic Bilbao last month as they were interested in signing Fernando Llorente. Llorente told Marca,

"Representatives from Liverpool arrived in Bilbao and had talks with the leadership of our club, but obviously I did not want to be put on the transfer list.

Where's a Sistine Chapel Photoshop filter when you need one? Tottenham dealt Luka Modric appendix blow - ESPN Soccernet Tottenham's title challenge has suffered a fresh blow with the news Luka Modric is facing two weeks on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on his appendix. Croatian star Modric has been a shining light for Spurs, with his craft in the middle of the park sparking their

Due to a problem with our host's server, the Philly Soccer Page was offline for approximately an hour and a half on Tuesday night. We apologize for the interruption.

Union

The Union will introduce "a new team member" at Fado's on Thursday. Doors open at 11:30am with the introduction scheduled for noon.