For this weeks offering I thought we would re-visit one of the all time great sides. AC Milan, under the guidance of a certain Fabio Capello, swept all before them in the early 90s. That included an emphatic Champions League win over Barcelona at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on May 18 1994, a game which is often considered to be one of the greatest ever performances by a side in the Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Arsène Wenger's quest for attacking perfection sees his two centre backs playing with more than a hint of libero.
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In Arsène Wenger's first match in charge of Arsenal, the French manager deployed a three man defence but despite a convincing 2-0 win over Blackburn the set-up was never to be seen again in red and white colours.

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A banner greets Beckham's LA return

Beckham's season debut at home did not get much love from the fans even though his performance was an improvement from the Red Bulls game. He contributed to both goals scored and the Galaxy was able to force a draw against Milan.

Galaxy fans in the LA Riot Squad section, an American version of the Ultras booed Beckham everytime he touched the ball.

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El verano, los fichajes, la planificación deportiva y las vueltas al trabajo copan las noticias en estos meses estivales. Este fin de semana no tenía tema del que escribir, todas las noticias son iguales: vuelven al trabajo, se interesa por, contraataca a por y miles de fórmulas similares que llenan los papeles. Click to continue reading...

LOAD "football"...
17 Computer Games Endorsed By Famous Players
1. Brian Clough's Football Fortunes (ZX Spectrum/C64, 1987)
2. Diego (Amiga, 1992)
3. Emlyn Hughes International Soccer (ZX Spectrum/C64, 1989)
4. Franco Baresi's World Cup Kick Off (Amiga, 1992)
5. Gary Lineker's Hot Shot (C64, 1989)
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Zidane is in Vancouver due to play in a exhibition match marketed as "Zidane and Friends"The event has run into some problems.Zidane is not able to play for awhile because he injured his back while picking up his three-year-old daughter during Canada Day fireworks.Some people are demanding their money (all $200 of it) back because most of the "friends" they had paid to see ( like Samuel Eto'o, Alessandro Costacurta, Franco Baresi and Gennaro Gattuso haven't made an appearance.

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So spake Paolo Maldini in his last press conference. El Gran Capitano said that this move to sell the Brazilian was unprecedented and forecast a gloomy future for Milan.

"This is a historic change for Milan and it will be unrealistic to expect us to win the Champions League without Kaka."

When Franco Baresi retired the club was able to bounce back from that dark period.

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A parting salute to Paolo Maldini, who finally hung up his AC Milan boots today aged almost 41 after a quarter century at the top. The legendary left-back left the field to a standing ovation as his beloved Rossoneri topped Fiorentina 2-0 in Florence.
A cornerstone of world football disappears after an astonishing story: He first played for Milan aged 16 in 1985 and went on to win five European Cups and seven Serie A titles as well as the appearance records for Serie A and Italy, for whom he made 126 appearances. Click to continue reading...

We bid farewell to Paolo Maldini, Luis Figo, and Pavel Nedved.

Men of unbelievable talent, longevity, and work rate. This was their last day, their last season. We were privileged to see them play even when in opposition. Women all over the world weep, the eye candy store has been ransacked.

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We bid farewell to Paolo Maldini, Luis Figo, and Pavel Nedved.

Men of unbelievable talent, longevity, and work rate. This was their last day, their last season. We were privileged to see them play even when in opposition. Women all over the world weep, the eye candy is gone.

Maldini, El Gran Capitano, as everyone knows spent his entire playing career at Milan.

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The weekend began with the best of intentions as Paolo Maldini headed for his San Siro swansong. But when teams are relegated - or pushed to the very brink of relegation - things tend to go downhill very quickly. Take, for example, Genoa and Torino, who embarked on a full out brawl following the former's 3-2 [. Click to continue reading...

So Milan's 2-3 loss to Roma didn't exactly make for magnifico celebrations in honour of Captain Maldini, but at least most of the tifosi made it worthwhile. A small section of the crowd held up Franco Baresi banners with chants of "There is only one captain.

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A shocker at the San Siro as Totti's free kick stunned the Rossoneri. It added to the angst and anxiety enveloping the club.

Worse still, Maldini's sendoff was marred by Milan's Curva Sud ultras standing on the terraces mocking the Milan legend by unfurling a banner with the number 6 marked on it with the caption "There is only one captain" a reference to Franco Baresi, Maldini's mentor and former team mate.

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If the media are to believed, AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti is the one of the most sought after managers in world football with Real Madrid and Chelsea among the sides linked with the Italian boss for the 2009-10 season.

However, this writer struggles to see why Ancelotti's stock is so high at a time when his own job at Milan must be considered seriously under threat.

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For many years, the sole purpose of a DEFENDER was to stay back and protect the goal. They were seen but almost never heard. The soccer equivalent of freshmen Senators, offensive linemen, and models. There wasn't much glory, but it was a necessary part of the game. However, the game started [. Click to continue reading...

An emotional return to the pitch for Roberto Baggio, Roberto Donadoni, Franco Baresi and many of the other superstars from the Milan and Fiorentina squads of the late-80's & early-90's in a charity match for Stefano Borgonovo. Stefano is another star felled by the worrying trend of Italian football players struck down by ALS (Lou [. Click to continue reading...

Jamie Carragher has revealed how Rafa Benitez wanted the aggressive defender to be his enforcer both on and off the pitch.
Shortly after taking over at Liverpool, Benitez handed the centre-half a DVDs of Arrigo Sacchi's legendary AC Milan side of the 1980s and asked him to analyse Franco Baresi's movements and organisation of the defence. Click to continue reading...

Lucky Kaka to have stepped out of the unlucky 13 mark. So far he had racked up 13 personal awards for the year 2007 and now he has move one better. The only Croatian daily Sportske Novorsk has named Kaka are the best player of last year as reported by Goal.com. Not that Kaka doesn't deserve [...] Click to continue reading...