With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

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Since PTSD is a malady of a society (not just its warriors), this excellent article explains very well how we can Heal the Warrior and Heal The Country. Click to continue reading...

Barcelona may be the treble winners last season. In addition, they may also be the side with arguably the most potent attack in Europe, comprising of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thierry Henry, Bojan Krkic, and FIFA World Player of the Year hopeful Lionel Messi. On top of that, they also possess one of the most powerful midfield combinations in the continent in the form of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

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With yet another exciting Premier League weekend in the books it's time to review this weekend's winners and losers.

Winners Robbie Keane

Robbie Keane emerges from this weekend as the biggest winner. The Tottenham striker has had a relatively quiet start to the season, oftentimes playing second fiddle to the red hot Jermain Defoe.

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It seems Wayne Rooney is enjoying his time with Manchester United under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson.
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This weekend's headlines were stolen by Emmauel Adebayor even before a ball was kicked. Saturday morning, Adebayor finally lashed out at his former club Arsenal, moments before the Gunners kicked-off a challenging visit to the Eastlands.

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Reasons to be cheerful Part Three

Hi all, yes the transfer window closed and we didn't appear to be making any attempt to add to our squad in those closing hours but that's no biggie, here are five reasons for my fellow Liverpool fans to be chipper.

1. Youth & Academy Players Beginning to Pay Off

Daniel Ayala, a player who didn't cover himself in glory in the pre-season friendlies he took part in, showed real maturity when flung in at the deep end and looks like a pretty good prospect for the future.

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Officiating in modern day football has already received its fair share of flak. Of course, whenever a certain team is at the receiving end of harsh refereeing decisions, its passionate fans jump at the opportunity to hit back at the match officials with great force. In this article, however, I will not go ahead with the oft-repeated idea of accusing the referees of lacking the ability to call big games without the heavily proposed use of technology.

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Stability. Composure. Quality. These are just a few adjectives that England's defense certainly doesn't deserve based on the Three Lions' 2-2 draw against Holland in their most recent international fixture. However, only the aforementioned adjectives can do justice to one defender that England's system failed to recognize.

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Those who saw last night's World Football Challenge clash between Internazionale and Chelsea must have noticed a solid performance from a rapidly emerging star wearing the blue shirt. Branislav Ivanovic, who played fullback for 65 minutes of Chelsea's dominant 2-0 victory over the reigning Italian champions seemed to be the player who was more eager than anyone else to cement his reputation during the high-profile friendly at the Rose Bowl.

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Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Carlos Tevez, and Emmanuel Adebayor! Such is the caliber of each of these players that their involvement in this summer's transfer market has left no spotlight for the lesser-known talent. Such is the nature of the market right now that none of the European giants can be bothered with a move for the hidden gems.

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There have been many occasions in recent years where the genius of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been brought into question. After all, the trophy cabinet has been empty for four years and everyone, from skipper Cesc Fabregas to that little child in the upper tier at the Emirates, is becoming increasingly restless with the club's underachievements.

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Despite a composed 1-0 win for the LA Galaxy at home to the New England Revolution this weekend, soccer fans around the world (or at least in the US) are still in shock over the rift between two Galaxy stars who missed this weekend's game. While superstar David Beckham is yet to return to the Galaxy this season, his estranged teammate Landon Donovan was rested following a busy period representing his country.

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When I came across this morning's comments provided by the agent of Barcelona ace Samuel Eto'o, the first word that came to my mind was diplomatic. Mr. Mesalles, who has been instrumental in promoting Eto'o to interested parties ever since Barca's treble-winning season came to an end, stated that the Cameroon international preferred to see out the one year that is left on his Barcelona contract.

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What is it with all of these stupid confusing names when it comes to different league names and tournaments? I'm talking about some of Europe's domestic leagues and two UEFA club competitions. Why do they have to have these fancy names like Premiership and Europa League? They should just stick with a name that is simple and that tells you what the competition is.

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Plenty of transfers are floating about this summer, but almost all of them revolve around familiar faces. Premiership Talk takes a look at this summer's hottest targets.

David Villa

Real Madrid have already clinched the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, and David Villa appears to be next on the list.

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Football is a funny game - this is the sport where anything, and I mean anything, can happen completely out of the blue. For example, no one ever imagined that Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who was literally unstoppable not too long ago, would suddenly become as anonymous as he is nowadays.

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Here's an analogy for you to mull over:

An entrepreneur comes up with a product. It can be any product: a website, a toaster, a killer mutant robot, you name it, but he designs and develops it. He makes it successful. It's him who brings this product to the attention of the world... and it's a truly great product.

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So it's finally come to an end. The most protracted and annoying transfer saga in Manchester United history has ended with Cristiano Ronaldo finally getting his wish to look absolutely fabulous in all white whilst topping up his tan in the Spanish Sun.

Some will inevitably see the deal, and his request for it, as inconclusive proof of their belief he is an evil, diabolical, ungrateful little grasping greasy foreign **** who should be strung up and paddled for the sheer gall of wanting to play for anyone but Manchester United.

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Emmanuel Eboue celebrates his 26th Birthday today! The versatile Ivorian signed for Arsenal in 2005 from Belgium minnows Beveren. At present, the winger has made 94 appearances bagging 3 goals along the way. Despite being heavily criticised throughout last season, Eboue gradually became more and more consistent - eventually winning over most Arsenal fans. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal forward Robin van Persie has put Arsene Wenger in a nervous disposition after the Dutchman stalled on signing a new long-term deal with the club. The 25-year-old is Arsenal's top scorer with 20 goals and the Premier League's top passer with 11 assists. Van Persie's contract runs out in two seasons, but Wenger wants [. Click to continue reading...

On yet another pulsating night in European football, Shakhtar Donetsk became the first ever Ukrainian side to lift the UEFA Cup following a 2-1 win over the German Bundesliga's Werder Bremen. In the process, they also became the last team to ever win the competition as it will be reprised as the Europa League next season.

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Does anyone else get the feeling that things have been going too well for too long? The English Premier League has gone from European underachievers to world dominators in only a few years. Foreign investment and an influx of the world's best talent has made the Premiership the undisputed champion of Europe and of the world.

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Watching our collapse against Manchester United set me to thinking about what changes we need to make at Arsenal. Right now we just aren't good enough to win a trophy. We need to offload some players and we need to start looking at other players who could come in and address our shortcomings. Click to continue reading...

Watching our collapse against Manchester United set me to thinking about what changes we need to make at Arsenal. Right now we just aren't good enough to win a trophy. We need to offload some players and we need to start looking at other players who could come in and address our shortcomings. Click to continue reading...

I have been saying since the tournament began that my dream final for the Champions League would be Manchester United versus Barcelona. Although it took them over 180 minutes to do it, Barcelona finally scored a goal and advanced to the final to make my dream matchup a reality.

Chelsea played a great game, and probably could have won if a few of the referee's calls went their way (more on that later), but ultimately I think Barcelona are the better team.

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Manchester United's 3-1 second leg victory over Arsenal at the Emirates (and, on top of that, it was 4-1 on aggregate) showed the world many things about these two sides. While United deserve all of the accolades that they are getting following this match, few people are mentioning Arsenal's absolute embarrassment at home and their inability to win anything.

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Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were for once united in the opinion that Cristiano Ronaldo had inspired Manchester United to an emphatic 3-1 Champions League semi-final second-leg victory against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

The Portugal international, used as a lone striker, turned in arguably his best performance on the big stage in United colours to hand the defending champions the opportunity to become the first club side in the modern era to successfully defend their European crown on May 27 in Rome against the winners of the Chelsea-Barcelona return leg.

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Football FanCast columnist ‘The New Voice of Football' fully expects Cesc Fabregas returns to his beloved Barca, but doesn't feel that now is the right time.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will not leave the Emirates Stadium for the Nou Camp this summer.

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A statement issued by Nani showing remorse in response to his reaction at being hauled off at half-time on Saturday when Manchester United were trailing 2-0 to Tottenham may not be enough to cement his future at Old Trafford.

The official line is that the 22-year-old did not break the club's code of conduct, but the fact that he was already at home by the time the Premier League leaders decided to obey the football odds by completing a stirring 5-2 comeback hardly strengthens his relationship with an increasingly wary Old Trafford crowd.

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Manchester United have again been linked with a move for Lyon striker Karim Benzema, after they were reportedly priced out of the market for the talented Frenchman last year. If the rumors are true it does put question marks over the future of some of United's strikers.

Carlos Tevez, who is one of United's most consistent players, looks to be heading for the exit door as his opportunities in the team have been limited since the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov.

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It's always this way, isn't it? You wait forever for one bus and then four or five come along at once. After a fairly drab season by Premier League standards, it's all gone frigging loopy as the fight for European and domestic dominance reaches its final stretch. A month ago we (well mainly I, but I'm sure you, too) were bemoaning the lack of really exciting games from the 08-09 Premier League season.

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So, lets get straight to it. It's the question on everybody's lips. Did Sir Alex Ferguson disrespect the FA Cup by fielding the cast of Skins? There were rumblings as soon as I entered the stadium. Some people had seen it on TV in one of the many bars, some had been phoned by friends, some were just wildly speculating.

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Every little kid dreams of scoring the winning goal for their favorite football club. On Sunday at Old Trafford, that dream became reality for one kid.

After a Gabriel Agbonlahor goal put Aston Villa up 2-1 in the 58th minute, Sir Alex turned to an unsuspecting bench player. Federico Macheda, a mere 17-year-old Italian boy, was given his first playing time for United in one of Manchester United's biggest matches of the season.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has grown accustomed to fighting many fires during a distinguished 22-and-a-half-year reign as manager of Manchester United.

But one wonders whether the latest round of tiresome speculation about the future of Cristiano Ronaldo may push even the battle-hardened Scot close to his tipping point?

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